While 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, your teen may be using the Internet for more than just online shopping and streaming videos with the rise of the darknet.
The darknet, an online marketplace that can be accessed using any computer system, can allow your teenager to get drugs with just a click of a button. It has been around for years, and it isn't going anywhere soon.
In fact, the number of teens using the darknet to buy drugs is astounding. In the past five years alone, the darknet has become a million-dollar industry with hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide.
What makes this even more frightening is the fact that drugs are affecting more and more teens all over Canada. Studies have shown that teens are drinking alcohol less and less, and are instead turning to drug use. That's where the darknet comes in.
But how does it work? How can your teen gain access to this scary place?
All they have to do is simply install a web browser called Tor, and they will soon be shielded in a cloak of invisibility as the IP address on their computer will be hidden from sight. In the marketplace, Tor users have access to drug dealers who accept a form of digital currency called Bitcoin, which is also virtually impossible to trace.
Not only that, but social media is connecting teens to drug dealers in their area. With the simple search of a hashtag #MDMA or #420friendly, a teen can not only find immediate access to drugs, but will be able to easily set up shop to distribute drugs from their own bedrooms.
“Social media is the ultimate oxymoron,” Louise Stanger, social worker and interventionist explains to MY AJC. “You can score like an Olympian with the use of social media connecting with friends, researching study topics, connecting across the globe, and you can fall like Hades using it to score and sell dope and hook up with all the wrong folks."
It's more important now than ever for parents to be diligent and to closely monitor their child's Internet usage. It is also important to look out for any changes in their emotional and social well-being. The four main traits surrounding addiction in teens include sensation-seeking, impulsiveness, anxiety sensitivity, and hopelessness. If you notice any of these red flags, it may be time to take action.
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