A fellow of the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany, Dr Celestine Gever, has proposed that interactive television instructions can be used to reduce the propensity of adolescents to engage in substance abuse and drug trafficking.
ITV is the use of television to transfer knowledge through a reciprocal approach.
Speaking while presenting a research project at the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, Germany, as part of his research fellowship for October 2023 to March 2024 to some scholars of the centre, Gever maintained that ITV would offer helpful instructions that allowed for interactive exchange of ideas.
He said examples of ITV included recorded instructions on DVD and played with the use of a projector, live interactive instructions using connections with cables or signals.
His project, titled, ‘Using Interactive Television Instruction to Reduce the Propensity to Engage in Substance Abuse and Drug Trafficking among Vulnerable Adolescents in Nigeria,’ had the objective of testing the impact of ITV instructions in reducing the propensity to engage in substance abuse and drug trafficking among vulnerable adolescents.
He revealed World Drug Report 202 stated that the number of people who engage in substance abuse grew from 240m in 2011 to 296m in 2021.
Gever who lectures at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said, “ITV can be used to reduce the propensity of adolescents to engage in substance abuse and drug trafficking by offering helpful instructions that allow for interactive exchange of ideas.
“Through this process, vulnerable adolescents are mentally empowered to take better decisions in relation to substance abuse and drug trafficking.”
He recommended that “It is cost-effective because it is less financially demanding compared with the value it adds to the campaign against substance abuse and drug trafficking. The length of intervention needs to increase to avoid cases of relapses.”