The Peer to Peer Players project, financed by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Drugs Policies Department, coordinated by CESIE in collaboration with the Associazione Identità Sviluppo Integrazione (I.S.I.) Onlus and with the Department of Psychological, Pedagogical and Training Sciences of the Università degli Studi di Palermo, was born with the aim of supporting young people in the protection of their psycho-physical health.
Among the activities carried out within the project, research has been conducted about the risk behaviours of young people, on a sample of 997 students from two secondary schools in the historical centre of Palermo, the Istituto Magistrale Statale “Regina Margherita” and the Liceo Scientifico Statale “Benedetto Croce”.
In particular, a questionnaire investigating the lifestyle of young people with an average age of 16 years was administered, to collect data on their socio-demographic characteristics and the use of the Internet, smartphones, social networks and dark web, the use of psychoactive substances, ecological personal resources, the level of positive development through the identification of specific skills, and risk behaviours.
The elaboration of the research data has resulted in a risk mapping useful to identify the most important issues to face together with young people, in order to protect their psycho-physical health, and also useful for the creation of the game App envisaged by the project: a serious game that will have an educational purpose.
Research was guided by the premise that addiction to the Internet and its related new devices and tools can be a risk factor for non-occasional and intentional access to the “dark web”, which increases the likelihood of buying and using new drugs in this dark virtual space. In this case addiction is understood to be linked both to an increased use of new drugs and to the implementation of risky behaviours, as well as to low personal and ecological resources and low psychosocial skills. Instead, a conscious use of the Internet and its derivatives is thought to be closely linked to adequate personal and ecological resources, a positive development and a low level of risk behaviour, including drug use. This does not mean that one is not aware of the world of psychoactive substances, though: it means that one makes good use, in terms of physical and mental health, of the information acquired.
The research results suggest two possible risk patterns that can lead to the use of psychoactive substances. Firstly, the excessive use of the Internet, and related tools such as social networks, can lead to an excess of trust and confidence; this excessive confidence can lead to a misperception, where meeting strangers online appears safer; however, among these strangers may also hide individuals interested in personal profit linked to the sale of soft drugs. Secondly, knowledge and use of the dark web as access to generally dangerous sites, when not properly monitored (e.g. by parents), can lead to an increased likelihood of using drugs, both because they are bought directly on the web and because information on how to buy them in situ can be more easily obtained. To these a third pattern is added, relating to the decisive importance of the peer group, which can often also pass through digital channels, the social network “friends”; in a circle of appearances, of mutual challenges, of “being the strongest” or “the most typical”, often fuelled by the predominance of videos and photos, young people can be seduced to “try”, “challenge” and “show themselves” without being fully aware of the behaviours they are adopting and of its consequences. These behaviours include drinking and consuming psychoactive substances, such as hashish and marijuana, which, for example, can lead to the illusion of overcoming shyness. These potential mechanisms do not replace, but flank the other “in-presence” risks considered in research.
You can download detailed research results by clicking here.
About the project
Peer to peer players is a two-year project, funded by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Drug Policies Department.
Partners
Project partners are:
- CESIE (coordinator);
- Associazione Identità Sviluppo Integrazione (I.S.I.) Onlus;
- Dipartimento di Scienze Psicologiche, Pedagogiche e della Formazione dell’Università degli Studi di Palermo.
For further information
Read more about the project.
Contact cooperazionelocale@cesie.org
