The Role Of Heroin Addiction In Social Media

For the majority, when considering a drug addict or alcoholic, different stereotypical images come to mind. For example, a good deal of the population sees heroin addicts as junkies. Homeless, living on the streets, begging for money, robbing, and prostituting is the definition of a heroin addict. Numerous see alcoholics as homeless, old men. These men are too lazy to try to obtain a job or put any effort into their daily lives. Lastly, marijuana users take on the name of ‘stoners.’ Those with no job, lazy, and dysfunctional societal members is how we view stoners. We judge drug addicts and alcoholics as those who come from broken homes, low income families, certain towns, and even races. This is a heavily applied stereotype. Heroin addiction

Social media create an environment where one is constantly worrying if they are saying or doing the right thing, or even if they are representing themselves in the right way. Sherry Turkle interviewed adolescents regarding building of online profiles. One girl Mona, says that she “worries that she does not have enough of a social life to make herself sound interesting…” Another girl says “I really want to only have my cool friends listed…” Due to this constant worry, “the years of identity construction are recast in terms of profile production” (Turkle). Social sites inhibits adolescents to be who they genuinely are—a immense part of self-identity. According to Erik Erikson, self-identity is the main goal in adolescents. Today, adolescents are using social platforms to try and achieve their self-identity, using outside sources to try and identify who they are on the inside. Not living up to the standards of others creates self-esteem issues. Self-esteem is the personal value that one attains from understanding themselves (Destinations for Teens). Low self-esteem is a monumental factor in substance abuse in adolescents. Their peers stigmatize them, leading them to develop an addict identity, further driving the addiction. Self-awareness is not new to adolescents, but this age is the first time where teens live their lives through the

We center judgment around those who has less than we do, believing they are lazy and undetermined. Americans label these undetermined individuals as poor. We look at drug addicts as those who are poor or live in poverty. Countless believe the poor is that way due to drug use or alcoholism. Whenever viewing a homeless person on the street, our minds immediately believe that they are asking for money so they can buy drugs. According to Bell Hooks, “socialized by film and television to identify with the attitude and values or privileged classes in this society, many people who are poor…internalize fear and contempt for those who are poor.” This occurs as a result of associating them with worthlessness, lack, and depravity. These stereotypes scrutinize them because the media rarely represents the poor in positive ways like having dignity and integrity. Although poverty can be a result of drug use, drug use can also be a result of poverty. Drug dealers and addicts surround those living in poverty, making it easy to obtain drugs (Seacliff). Even so, we still treat those in poverty that are not drug users with disrespect. This is all due to negative stereotypes. “To change the devastating impact of poverty on the lives of masses of folks in our society we need to change the way resources and wealth are distributed. But we must also change the way the poor are represented” (Hooks). We need to view the