So today I was paid to do lighting and sound for The Drug Store project, an annual program put on by the Lake Tahoe School District that takes local 7th graders through mock situations "with the goal of educating youth about the dangers of substance use and abuse."
Remember D.A.R.E.? It's like that only more intensive. When I was growing up in Cheyenne, around Halloween there was this "haunted house" put on by a local church (see mind control environments). This "haunted house" did not include monsters created by Hollywood, nor did it include peeled grapes (eyeballs) or cold spaghetti (brains,mmmm). No, the big fear factors here were abortion, homosexuality, and other "evils." Through the use of overly dramatic lighting and sound efx, this was supposed to scare families, especially us youngsters on the brink of eternal damnation, to find Jesus and live only the way he would want.
Putting aside any of my ideas on religion (more specifically right wing christianity), the issue here is use of fear to control people.
Every year that the Drug Store Project happens, I am filled with broken memories of a teenage girl regretting her decision to abort the baby because she was sent to a fiery pit in Hell.
Thankfully the only part I played in this practice of control through fear was lighting and sound, which meant that I had to light the ER set with a Rosco 51 (light almost no color lavender gel in a cool shade for those not familiar with the Rosco line of gels) from the right and a Rosco 96 (lime) from the left to give it the proper sterile green effect that hospitals have. Side Note: I try to avoid hospitals at all cost, they literally make me ill, probably due to the lighting and the smells.
The scene was a 12 year old had od'd on a few different kinds of prescription drugs while at a party. The 12 year old dies in the ER after falling into a coma on the ambulance ride over, and the ER doc has to tell the greiving parent.
This scene happened from 10:00 to 12:30 every fifteen minutes, with a new rotation of 7th graders watching each time. After the scene ended the ER Doc would take questions from the 7th graders.
1st off, how cool must that 12 year old have been to get invited to a party with drugs?! When I was twelve I had one friend who lived across the street and really only liked me because she and her boyfriend would come over to my house after school and make out since my mom wasn't home (sorry mom). I didn't even know about parties that may or may not have been happening, let alone get invited to them.
2nd, the ER doc not only was very quiet (he refused to use a mic), but he was also very condescending to the kids; calling the prescription drugs "medicines" and using the tiny voice that always ends with a questioning tone when addressing the kids. I don't have kids, nor do I ever plan to. I do however respect them as people and refuse to talk down to them, whether they're four or fourteen.
Each session there was at least one kid who would ask how often kids actually came in to the ER with a drug overdose, and of those how many died in the ER. Hah! I love it when kids, or anybody for that matter, questions authority. The doc responded too often, but refused to give an actual number. The reason he refused to do this is that we live in a town of 23,000 people. Our statistics are much lower than figures from other places. And that's a good thing.
My point here is not that kids should be doing drugs; they should wait until their brains are more fully developed which doesn't happen till 17 or 18. At that age, they can have a better idea of the drug and hopefully they have a job by that time and don't want to show up to work in coke-lock or too stoned to move. But live and learn you know.
My point is that the Drug Store Project, and many more programs like it, try to use fear to teach kids, no I'm sorry, to control kids. Education is fine, education through fear is not. Our society however, is addicted to fear, addicted to being afraid. Look at the news, printed, on TV, on the Web, or even on the internet. It's item after item of impending doom and scandal.
The Drug Store Project only promulgates that fear is the way keep people under control.
Now smoke some pot and think this over.
1 comment:
You know, I completely agree with your point here. We seem just about as addicted to fear tactics as we are to quick fix pills (restless leg syndrome? What the hell? Take a damn walk).
I'll never forget the orientation I was put through when transferring from junior high to high school. The focus was placed almost entirely on what the students were afraid of. I can't remember how many times I was asked "What about high school scares you?" Why do people assume we all have to be fearful? I'm not saying we should feel invincible, just maybe not so fragile.
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