Essay On Opioid Crisis

Today’s society has a multitude of issues, all of which are broadcasted on television, printed in newspapers, and posted on social media. Each source of media plays a large role in how we interpret and react to these issues. Different sources of media offer varying outlooks on these issues. Some offer factual information while others offer emotional reactions. Either way, the media is one of the biggest indicators of how our society views these issues.

One YouTube channel, named Vox, posts videos regarding many different issues. Some of their videos are interesting and related to pop culture while others are informational and related to current social problems. Vox recently posted a video titled “The opioid crisis is making grandparents become

parents again.” This video brought up many current issues including opioid use, foster care systems, and low income families.
The video starts with a montage of news stories, showing that the opioid crisis is effecting many people and forcing children away from their parents.

“Opioid abuse has made thousands of Americans incapable of caring for their children” (Vox 2017). The narrator talks about the increasing amount of phone calls that Child Protective Services are making to find homes for children. In most cases, the children’s grandparents are taking over as the primary caregiver.

One woman, who was not named, said, “I’ve already raised my own children and now I have to start all over” (Vox 2017). Many other grandparents expressed that they are willing to take care of the children so that the kids do not have to enter foster care. However, the grandparents are also self-aware and know that they might not be fully able to raise a young child.

The video also explains the definition of kinship care and shows the difficulties that caregivers go through when deciding if they are going to become licensed foster parents or if they are voluntarily raising the child without becoming a legal guardian. “In the US, around 130,000 children live in formal kinship and nearly 2.5 million live in informal kinship care” (Vox 2017). This means that most families that are raising other children are not receiving any form of additional income to provide for the children’s basic

needs.
Overall, this video shows how one issue (the opioid epidemic) transforms into multiple issues (foster care, income, and education for children). Although there are multiple perspectives of drug and alcohol use, the creators of the video most likely wanted the audience to view the opioid epidemic from an interactionist perspective. This perspective says that drug use is learned through others. The creators also wanted the audience to be aware of the issue so that they understand the stress and struggle that families across the country are facing.