Intervention

I am watching an Intervention special on heroin use in teens in New England. In Brockton, Massachusetts, in 3.5 years almost 150 teenagers died of opiate overdoses. That's almost one child per week. The numbers are astounding. A local paper wrote an expose on the epidemic and leading state health officials say if the local communities, educators and parents do not make a concerted effort to reach the middle and high school students, the region will likely lose a generation of children. Listening to the stories of these young people makes me realize just how lucky I am.

It's partly horrifying, shocking, yet unsurprising. Drug usage amongst teenagers has been slowly been on the rise for years. Today's teenagers are not the first to experiment with drugs. The youth of the 60s were equally adventurous with drugs but today's youth face stronger and purer drugs and extraordinary lack of parental oversight.

Usually, Intervention makes me feel better about myself. When I think of my problems in the midst of hearing the tragedy of an addict's life, I realize my life's not so bad. It helps me to put things in perspective. I rent a one-bedroom apartment in a nice neighborhood in downtown Brooklyn. (For now, anyways. I am 3 weeks late on my rent and terrified that I will get evicted.) I have food to eat and clothes, etc. Life is not so bad, right?