Troubled Teens Resources

Vanity, thy name is teenager. And that’s as it should be - for awhile. Narcissism will, in a healthy human being, give way to compassion, empathy and regard for others. But for awhile, teens are indeed vain. That is what the producers of the newest campaign against teen age drug abuse are appealing to when they developed and produced a short film depicting the grotesque results of meth addiction.

“To avoid tired clichés and hollow messages, the group attempted to appeal to an issue close to the heart of young people — themselves.

“ We really tried to get into the vanity issues of what you look like if you’re a meth user, ” Maloney said.

The spots, which are in both English and Spanish, focus on how quickly the drug ages users by rotting their teeth and wrinkling their skin and how easy it is to become addicted to the substance.

“ Young people will have a little bit more of an in-your-face experience with it in an entertaining way, ” he said. “ There’s no reason to try to sugar-coat this stuff. Be honest and sincere about what you’re trying to tell people, and it comes through. ”

It comes through on billboards, on TV specials saturating the local air waves, and in spots slotted to run between previews and movies at the theater. The power of meth to ravage communities is keenly felt by entire towns whose youth have been targeted by drug cartels from south of the border. A stark, candid presentation was deemed to be the right approach.

“Maloney determined that the same old educational techniques wouldn’t work anymore. Young people are relational, and their own encounters with the ill effects of drug use will convince them more than any cliché ever will, he said.”

(source)