Next Generation Myanmar > 17 Many felt that the police approach to the drug problem in their areas has been inadequate or counterproductive. According to youth interviewed in this study, the police too often punish drug users or small-scale dealers instead of drug producers. Some respondents suspected that police would sometimes take bribes to release drugs-related criminals, or even profit from the trade themselves. ‘There is no rule of law... For the drug cases as well, though the police officers do know who are trading and who are using, they themselves do not get involved in such cases. Mostly, they do not take any actions on the criminals. Even if they arrest one of them, if you can bribe them, they can arrest and send someone else to the jail.’ Activist, male, Kachin State, age 29 ‘The police arrest individual drug users, not those trading the substances. The police will arrest some drug users and release them after receiving money. And then, they will arrest the drug users again later for more money.’ Female, Shan State, age 27 ‘In Maungdaw, there was a capture of drug traders in September. In that seizing, there were gold and money beside drugs: WY tablets. But the gold and money were not found when people arrive that office. It is said that police hide and occupy those gold and money for themselves... If the police arrested about the tablets of 3 lakhs16 worth, they burned the tablets of 1 lakhs worth to show. There are corruptions as well. If you can bribe 50 lakhs and someone else 100 lakhs, the police is going to arrest who only give 50 lakhs. The one who can pay more can trade drugs and tablets.’ Student, male, Rakhine State, age 23 Social media Smartphone is my enemy to be honest. Phones are smart, but people are stupid... They play online games all the time. If you do that, then do not blame the government for not providing jobs. If you want a job, then you need to invest time and energy in it.’ Activist, male, Yangon, age 19 Smartphones have become ubiquitous in Myanmar. Across the country, youth use their phones on a daily basis to view and share content on social media. This technology has allowed youth to interact with each other and with the world in ways unimaginable to their parents. Despite its popularity, not all youth think social media is good. Most youth interviewed in this study expressed disappointment in social media, arguing it claimed far too many hours of young people’s attention. They complained that most young people do not realise the opportunity cost of social media, citing smartphones as one reason why many youth are ignorant of politics or current affairs. ‘There is a 60 per cent chance of getting more improvements for youths. There is 40 per cent tendency for worsening conditions such as drugs and social media/games addiction. I mean youth spending too much time on social media and games can be a major issue for their personal development in terms of education attainment. Since 2013, people have access to mobile phones and now they are spending a lot of time using their phones.’ Student, male, Rakhine State, age 19 ‘I think that in five years from now, the future of the youth will become worse. They are always using their mobile phones for Facebook and playing games. They do not use it for education purposes. Only few youth make good use of their access to mobile phones and internet.’ Student, male, Kayin State, age 21 16 > One lakh equals 100,000 kyat. ‘The improper use of mobile phones. Because of that, the youths do not read anymore, and they lack ambition. They spend their time playing games instead of working at school. There are many jobs that young people can take up too. They can work in gold and gems mines or in farming if they want. There are many jobs out there, but they do not make good use of their time to improve their knowledge. And when they have money, they waste it on social media…’ Male, Chin State, age 27 Some youth highlighted the benefits of social media in Myanmar. One activist in Yangon shared that after he founded his CSO, social media allowed him to share its services with a diverse audience, thereby connecting groups that might not otherwise interact. ‘To match with the youth, we use a lot of technologies and social media,’ he explained. ‘My belief is that digital media are the only way to narrow the gap between the high class and the low class.’ Optimism towards social media, however, appeared a minority opinion. Most youth were critical of social media and how youth make use of it. While their views reflect a global debate on the merits and faults of social media, such criticism is particularly salient in the context of Myanmar. Social media, especially Facebook, has become one of the primary means of communication among the country’s residents. Scepticism of its benefits challenges the assumption that youth are uniformly enthusiastic about its rise. Notably, youth surveyed in this study widely regard internet access as a good thing: 93.5 per cent of youth surveyed said ‘improving communications infrastructure like phone coverage and internet access’ was important for Myanmar’s development. Youth do not seem to object to connectivity in itself. Rather, they are concerned with the addictive effect of social media on their peers’ behaviour.