Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School Photovoice Project
Spring 2016
“If you want it hard enough you have to figure out how to do it. A fence ends eventually, a cage you have to unlock or break through it.”
“Perspective is something I have been working on. The fallen petals are the past and you can move on and still be a flower.”
“You’re not stuck in the cage forever, the door can open. The addiction is keeping you in there but if you want to you can get out.”
“This looks like it is relying on the ivy. Like if it was cut down, the only way it can stand up is the stability of the ivy.”
“What we can do to help is to not judge a book by its cover. Take the cover off and look deeper into why a person is addicted and why we can help.”
“This is representing someone who let the addiction go too far and they are slowly falling apart over time and there is nothing they can do now. The drug addiction continues to take over their life and tear it down.”
“When I think of pills it’s a double standard. To me it’s a slippery slope; you have to keep your eye on the sun. If you slip a little bit you just fall and there’s nothing to hold onto at that point.”
“This could be the daughter of an addict and she is depressed and doesn’t have the motivation to do the school work. This could be the only place where she feels safe enough to close her eyes for a little while.”
“Don’t judge someone unless you have walked a mile in their shoes. I have had people in school walk up to me that I have never even talked to and say something to judge me. What’s the point in casting a judgment on someone when you don’t even know what their true character is?”
“With addiction it can be caused by a deep rooted problem in their childhood. They don’t start using drugs or alcohol because they want to become addicted. Sometimes, they are just petrified to feel those deep rooted feelings again.”
“There’s a lot of peer pressure that goes on with prescription drugs. They’re all different colors shapes and sizes, but you look at them and it’s just this little pill that fits in the palm of my hand. You don’t think the harm of addiction can happen to you, until you experience the devastating results.”
“The person is dressed as a doctor and his back is turned, away from the dark corner. A lot of doctors used to turn their backs to how much medicine they were giving people and how addictive these things are. He is looking at the light, to the good things about medication and not how addictive they can be.”
“Addiction is a routine thing. It’s not just the actual drug they become obsessed with, it’s the routine too. An everyday task, like stopping at the ATM for money, becomes part of the routine. Then, people start relapsing when they tie something that is so a part of normal life with their habit.”
“They’re being held down by the prescription, they can’t let go of it.”
“Everyone knows someone with an addiction…everyone has somebody, knows somebody.”
“Sunrise represents a new day; a new chance to re-think about your situation.”
“It’s easy to go downhill from drugs but it’s harder to come back up. You’re trying to seal up cracks but they are still visible. The cracks could represent scars. Everyone has scars and you try to heal them, but scar tissue is stronger than skin.”
“This shows that addicts can come in all different sizes, shapes, and colors and stuff. But it also kind of reminds me of steps of recovery. It starts with the Styrofoam that is dull, than as you keep going down, it’s stable, trusted, and positive.”
“Alcohol is like a common place once you turn 21 you usually drink. People just don’t really think anything of it. Alcohol is a drug and it is a problem, it can be a problem, it is like any other drug. It can lead to addiction but people don’t see it as a drug they see it as like a normalcy.”
“I think kids are more susceptible to doing drugs or drinking because they have seen people in their family do it and they think it’s okay like smoking cigarettes. If it’s okay for their family to do they think it’s okay for them to do it.”
“If you get a flat tire and you keep trying to drive it will ruin your rims, and you’re stuck in the same spot. In the moment it’s not going anywhere, but you can take it and fix it and make it into something better. Someone who is addicted for years can find healing.”
“No matter how dark it may get, there will always be a helping hand to help you through your journey.”
“What we need to do is bring people together and talk about the issues our community is facing.”
“Addiction isn’t pure black and white there’s a huge grey area in the middle.”
“It seems like everyone and everything is too busy and they’re kind of like in the dark as to what is going on. The sunlight is shining through and could be enlightening the community as to what is actually going on.”
“I found this and it has a warning on it saying it is addictive. Heroin and cocaine do not come with a warning on them. You don’t know if you are going to be addicted until you try it.”
“The problem is people keep this stuff around and other people get their hands on it. If you get rid of it no one else can get it. We need to get rid of the problem before there is a chance to make it a problem.”