La recherche globale pour l'éducation: Dr. Margaret Dowell sur la toxicomanie et le rôle de la famille

Posté par C. M. Rubin le déc 1, 2021

Ce mois-ci sur le Planet Classroom Network, le public peut projeter Dr. Margaret Dowell’s Dépendance: L'impact sur la famille, Épisode 2 in the Addiction and Art series. The series is hosted by Margaret Dowell, the award winning artist and art educator who has taught in both US public schools and higher education, most recently for the College of Southern Maryland. Dans 2010, Dowell co-edited the book, Addiction and Art (Johns Hopkins University Press), which received much attention including a Highly Commended Award (Psychiatry Category) from the British Medical Association.

La recherche globale pour l'éducation est heureux d'accueillir le Dr. Margaret Dowell.

What was your overarching goal for creating Dépendance: L'impact sur la famille? Are you speaking to drug users, leur familles, ex-drug users, or people entirely removed from them?

As I created this video especially for the Planet Classroom Network, I am of course primarily addressing young people. But certainly the information would be relevant for anyone willing to listen. In the video, I talk about generational addiction. That information, that knowledge could certainly help the young with decision making, avec prévention. j'aborde aussi la douleur, l'impact grave que la dépendance peut avoir sur la cellule familiale. Il est important pour tous les membres de la famille, y compris ceux en proie à la toxicomanie, pour comprendre qu'ils n'ont pas à être seuls - la compassion et le soutien d'une variété d'autres peuvent durer longtemps, long chemin.

Votre décor pour le tournage Dépendance: L'impact sur la famille est une ancienne école, plutôt qu'une salle de classe traditionnelle. Qu'est-ce qui a influencé ce choix créatif pour votre série de vidéos?

We have been shooting the Addiction and Art videos in an old one room schoolhouse. More than 150 il y a des années, students huddled around a woodstove in this building learning the simple basics of reading and writing. Although education about substance abuse has been around for many decades, it’s staggering to know that last year more people died of overdoses in the United States than in any other year in our history. So it seems that focusing on the basics in this building, once again, is more than appropriate.

Your video features 3 powerful artworks: Inheritance et Consequences by Kevin Grass, et Family by you. How do you think these 3 artworks speak to your audience?

What I love about the viewing process of art is that communication happens when the viewer’s history meets the history of the artist. That’s why responses to a work of art can vary so much – which can be the case with these works. What we now know is that addiction is a family disease, and it is widespread. We all know of at least one family or more impacted to some degree. The artworks selected for this video illustrate pain experienced. That’s it. No judgment. Just artists depicting what they understand – what is in their history.

What are your top recommendations for families struggling to deal with an addiction problem?

There is no one size that fits all for families, as addictions vary, people vary, and family dynamics vary. But, within any family unit, it’s important to own up to what is happening. Unfortunately, there are stigmas to confront, and there are nasty things out there like judgment, fear and shame that often impede owning up. It can all be overwhelming. But if a family can own up, and can focus on the likes of compassion, support and treatment, versus condemnation and rejection, miracles can happen.