Pop Culture and Drugs.
This week’s reading was interesting and relatable to my work environment. In addition, i work at the Boys and Girls Club of Oxnard, and work directly with teens ages 13-18 on a daily basis. Additionally, i can see that these young individuals currently watch television shows which displays an array of un-youthful behavior such as language, partying, usage of alcohol, and illicit drugs use. Moreover, i can see the teens replicating certain artists and actors because it’s “cool,” and it’s “the thing to do.” Additionally, I myself don’t really watch television, but when i do i can see how these young individuals may be easily influenced. For example, Sternheimer mentioned the YouTube video of Miley Cyrus smoking saliva from a bong on her eighteenth birthday where she was pounced to be a bad role model. Despite her illicit behavior, there are still young viewers who grew up watching her shows, follow her music, which may ponder the though of, “well, if she’s doing drugs and gets away with it, then maybe i should try drugs.”
Moreover, in chapter 9, Sternheimer touches on a few topics such as smoking, alcohol, legal and illegal drugs. Additionally, I thought it was interesting when she mentioned that the Mental Health Services Administration suggest that about 5 million alcohol abusers have children under the age of eighteen living with them. That’s a very deep and sicking statistic, but unfortunately, it’s reality, and it may lead to the same behavior for the young individual because they see their own parents conducting these actions which may lead to lingering thoughts of drugs and alcohol being okay to do. Moreover, Sternheimer touched on how smoking has been declining, but one interesting section that caught my attention was when Sternheimer mentioned the National Survey on Drug Use, which stated that in 2010 fifty-five to fifty-nine-year-olds were equally binge drinking as sixteen-seventeen-year-olds. That was mind boggling!!!
Lastly, another interesting section that caught my attention was when Sternheimer mentioned Sean Combs and his Ciroc Vodka. According to Sternheimer, Combs appeared in ads for Ciroc Vodka, adding his brand of cool to portray Ciroc as the drink of high end clubs. This is another great example of how young individuals may look up to an artist (due to liking their music/movies/shows) and they see them in a whole different way that may trigger a negative perspective in possibly imitating the artist’s actions.
