[Note: This posting is a continuation of a report on
the development of a civics unit of study.
This unit is directing students to formulate informed positions on the
opioid epidemic. It is being developed
in real time. Writer wants to express
gratitude to Wikipedia for identifying the bulk of the research this blog has
used in the development of this unit.[1]]
In terms of developing
a unit of study that addresses the issue/problem area of opioid addiction, this
blog has described several phases in that development. At this point, it’s time to begin a new one,
but first it is useful to quickly review the context for what follows.
So
far, this blog shared a short history of the crisis and then divided the crisis
into various aspects. Those aspects are:
defining the problem in terms of its
anti-federalist attributes, describing how the crisis has affected individuals,
reporting existing counter measures, reviewing the demographic factor involved
with the crisis, describing production and distribution of the drug, and reporting
governmental reactions to the crisis.
These
aspects can now be used to organize the development of individual lessons. Lessons usually take up one class period
each, but this need not be the case – an individual lesson can stretch beyond a
single class period. In this posting,
the first two lessons of this “opioid” unit are described and they do last one
class period each.
These
aspects were, in previous postings, mostly treated by conveying lists of relevant
factoids and insights related research has discovered. This process has been basically done and reported
upon in previous postings, but – and one should remember this effort is being done
in real time – the writer might add to these lists of factoids and insights as
he becomes aware of added information.
In
that light, a further insight can be added at this time. It is one that advances the history of the
epidemic. Simply stated, it points out
that the epidemic is more acutely felt in rural areas than in urban areas due
to over-users in those more remote areas not having medical and therapeutic services
readily available.[2]
Another
bit of business is to suggest a unit long assignment. That is, a useful activity for student to engage during this unit is
for them to investigate local facilities – and what their structures and
processes are – that are dedicated to meeting a local opioid challenge. Of course, this assignment has more salience
if opioids are having a significant effect on the welfare of the students’
community. Here it is assumed the unit
is being implemented in such a community.
This concern also highlights an
important shortcoming. If one reviews
textbooks in the civics field of study, one finds a lack of coverage dealing
with local governance. For example,
reviewing the content – its index – of the best-selling American government
textbook, William A. McClenaghan’s
Magruder’s American Government,[3] shows no entries for
community(ies), community development, neighborhood(s), or charity(ies). “Localism”
is ignored.
Therefore,
an assignment in which students investigates such institutions that would be
dedicated to addressing the local opioid problem is deemed here to be
useful. As will be described in a future
posting, such an assignment can be the basis of the unit’s evaluation.
With
those bits of related business taken care of, this posting proceeds to share
lesson ideas for this unit. In a
potential lesson one, the first above aspect is addressed. As a pre-lesson step, the student should be
given a short history of the epidemic.
With that history, the student can acquire an acquaintance with the
problem area and begin to formulate a definition of the epidemic.
The
objective is not for the student to recall the details of that history, but to
have a conversational awareness of how the nation has arrived at the current
condition and how extensive the problem is.
As a set of questions that, one, can be attached to the short history,
and, two, serve as guiding any subsequent, discussion sessions within the unit,
the following is offered:
·
How does an addiction on opioid drugs affect
the ability of the individual to meet his/her communal responsibilities? To what extent?
·
What are those responsibilities?
·
To what extent – magnitude – does the
over-use of opioids manifest themselves in this
community?
·
What are the local responses to this
epidemic? Are there private-non-profit
organizations addressing it? Are there
local government – city and/or county – responses to the epidemic? Are there state government resources made
available to local responders to the epidemic?
Are there any federal government assets – funding or otherwise –
attainable by local officials to meet the crisis?
·
How is this crisis affecting people
locally in terms of income distribution, racial divisions, cultural divisions,
and/or other prominent divisions among the local population?
·
What kinds of assets promise to be
effective in meeting the crisis locally?
The assumption here is
that both teachers and students, through the course of the unit, are willing to
be so disposed as to talk about these and other concerns associated with the
opioid crisis.
To
convey the deleterious aspects of this crisis, the historical account – shared previously
in this blog – contained cited death rates and they can be highlighted. These can be augmented with the factoids and
insights this blog has previously reported.
For example, in terms of drugs in general, a factoid is: while the problem of cocaine deaths is a
greater problem among black population, all types of opioids (including heroin)
cause for more deaths among all races.[4]
Overall,
the first lesson introduces the student to the problem area by having him/her
define it (a la federalist values),
give it historical context, and share some basic facts and insights. In addition, by defining it, students should
be able to communicate how the crisis has a civic significance.
That
is, the problem transcends the personal costs it has on individuals. Questioning by the teacher in this final
portion of the lesson should have students see this area of concern as one that
challenges federalist values. To be
clear, the opioid crisis undermines the central federalist concerns that the US
is a grand partnership among its citizens.
How? As with any endeavor made up of partners
seeking to achieve shared aims and goals, compromised partners – be it of a
physical, emotional, or social origin – are in danger of not fulfilling their
responsibilities as partners. Of course,
the various statistics reported in this blog is the evidence for this sort of
dysfunctionality.
A
second lesson can be aimed at looking at opioid abuse from the perspective of
the individual. Here, the emphasis is
how difficult an opioid addiction can make a person’s life – the addiction, to
those affected, takes on a high centrality of concern. This leaves little room for other concerns
such as being a family member, an employee, or a community member. And those consequences do not even mention
the possible medical problems over-use can very likely cause.
As
this blog reports elsewhere, medical consequences have both social and economic
costs. Among the economic costs are lost
productivity, emergency costs, and related medical expenses that are often met
by public funding since many affected addicts are not insured.
So,
the basic question this second lesson addresses – and expects students to
address – is: what are the symptoms of
an opioid addiction? Supportive
questions include: how do individuals
acquire opioids? And, how have the
medical establishment interacted with affected individuals? One added
concern, that probably gets more of an emotional response, is: how does opioids interact with a person’s
biology?
A creative exercise that students can do in this second lesson
is for them to write a “day-in-the-life” of an opioid addict. Here the resulting narratives can be
evaluated by how well students include the factoids and the insights the blog
have reported especially from the provided history. The aim would be to engender in students an
empathetic sense of what it means to be so victimized.
With
that focus, here is part of the biology involved: opioid’s sedative qualities are caused by the
effect on that part of the brain – the respiratory center in the medulla
oblongata – that controls breathing. If
taken in high enough doses, they can function to depress respiratory processes,
potentially resulting in respiratory failure and even death.[5] This bit of information can be considered an
insight into what has happened to many who consume these drugs.
If students know of such a cases, in their lives, they can
include, in their narratives, the information they know to be true, but students
should be instructed to respect the confidentiality of these peoples’ identities
and other personal information.[6]
Hopefully,
due to this second lesson, the student has a well-rounded view of what the
opioid epidemic is in terms of how it effects individuals in the US. It aims at making the material relevant by, one,
being suggested to be especially implemented in communities where the epidemic
is being experienced to heightened levels and, two, by whittling the problem
down to how it affects the individual.
This
lesson by lesson development will continue in the next posting by suggesting
what could be presented in a third lesson.
[1] The writer
also wants to state that where possible, he has checked the sources and has at
times added to the listed research.
[2] John Oliver, “Opioids,” Last Week Tonight (HBO TV
cable production), May 21, 2018, available on YouTube, accessed August 27,
2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pdPrQFjo2o
. A further word on this cite. Oliver presents a very good review of the
problem in terms of its present manifestation.
An educator, though, should be aware that despite its usefulness, it is
riddled with satire and profanity including sexually referenced content. Teachers should review cite before
considering assigning its viewing.
[3] William A. McClenaghan,
Magruder’s American Government (Florida Teacher’s Edition) (Boston, MA: Prentice
Hall/Pearson, 2013).
[4] Deborah
Dowell, Rita K. Noonan, and Debra Houry, “Underlying Factors in Drug Overdose
Deaths,” JAMA, vol. 318, no. 23,
2295-2296.
[5] “Information
Sheet on Opioid Overdose,” World Health Organization (UN), November 2014,
accessed June 14, 2018, http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/information-sheet/en/.
[6] If helpful and
students can do it, they can look up the cited sources this blog has shared in the
form of footnotes. This is a recurring
possibility throughout any classroom instructional strategies reported in this
blog.
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