Teens get glimpse of what they’d look like after years of meth use

drugfree.org

A computer program is aimed at deterring teens from methamphetamine use.

“Shock” is usually the word used by teens in Imperial, Mo., after a computer generated program depicts them as they’d look after years of using meth.
“Tweeking (drug use) is one of life's truly bad choices and its popularity is growing. If they put the message in the right medium, the developers will do everyone a big favor." - Michael Greelis, PhD, adolescent psychotherapist

Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Michaels told the LA Times he’s been trying for years to get students’ attention and get through to them on the dangers of drug and alcohol use, but nothing has had the sobering effect of the newly instituted Face2Face computer program.

After several Windsor High School students volunteered to have their photos taken and viewed their digitally altered faces of the future that showed them what they‘d look like after six months, one year and three years.

"I've never seen the look of shock on their faces like I have with this. They can actually see themselves; there's no imagining there," Michaels said.

The test run of the Face2Face program, which mimics the physical effect of meth use and known to cause skin lesions, facial sagging and tooth decay, took place in one of the school’s health classes, open to freshmen through seniors.

The initial response of giggles and laughter gave rise to expressions of horror as the realization of the real implications of drug use began to sink in.

"Why would anyone do that?" exclaimed one student and "Oh, my God, that's horrible" was uttered by another.

Senior Jessica Ackermann, 17, said that her face, altered to simulate three years of meth abuse, resembled a zombie from Michael Jackson's music video for "Thriller."

The six-month simulation revealed Ackermann’s fair skin had turned even more pale; pronounced wrinkles on her forehead; and the dark circles that had formed under her eyes.

The three-year simulation was a real shocker, showing her face covered with lesions, her eyes bulging and he cheeks sunken and sagging.

Ackermann summed up the program most succinctly when she said, "…it was unlike any anti-drug presentation she had ever experienced.

"Other ones tell you about it; this one actually shows you what you would look like," she said. "If you show this to someone who does meth, it would change their mind if they really cared about themselves," Ackermann said.

Word spread quickly about Face2Face and within hours after the trial run other teachers were contacting Michaels about using the program in their classes.

"They're definitely talking about it,” Michaels said.

Face2Face reminiscent of “Scared Straight!”

In 1978, Arnold Shapiro released a video called “Scared Straight!” narrated by Peter Falk, about a group of arrogant, cocky, overly self-assured teenage juvenile delinquents, who were taken to Rahway State Prison in New Jersey, introduced to inmates and given a graphic, hands-on in-prison experience to deter them from a life of crime.

Since then there have been two re-releases: One in 1987 shown on MTV and UPN, and the latest sequel in 1999 hosted by Danny Glover showed that many teens were indeed “scared straight!”

Like any prevention program, there were successes and failures.

In spite of any failures, doing nothing and not trying different approaches produces net-zero results.

“There's no reason not to try this program,” observed Michael Greelis, PhD, LPC, an adolescent psychotherapist in northern Virginia who is not involved with the project. “Three elements might lead this to take off.  Put the application at Facebook, entertainment sites, and other popular web destinations.

“Have celebrities that teens really care about endorse it,” Greelis added. “And offer the program as true shareware for user distribution. That combination might create both receptivity and impact.”

Do fear based tactics work?

Although Dennis Embry, a prevention scientists and advocate said that research has found that fear-based tactics, such as the Montana Meth Project, don't prevent high-risk teens from deviant behavior, he is the ultimate skeptic on the Face2Face program.

In the Montana Meth Project the advertising campaign used unsavory images of teens experiencing the consequences of meth use that included diminishing health, sinking into adverse living conditions, amphetamine psychosis, moral compromise and regret.

Research has shown, Embry said, that those tactics can reinforce the thrill risk-taking teens are seeking.

But, on a skeptical note, he said the positive response to the Face2Face program most likely comes from teenagers who probably wouldn't be tempted to use drugs.

Reinforcing his negative philosophy he said that the idea of using a teen's own image may have some value, because it could cause affect their choice of drugs.

“Tweeking (drug use) is one of life's truly bad choices and its popularity is growing,” Greelis said. “If they put the message in the right medium, the developers will do everyone a big favor."

Also taking a positive approach is Sheriff Oliver “Glenn” Boyer, who learned about the Face2Face program last October. He contacted the Jefferson County Partners Responsible for Increasing Drug Education (P.R.I.D.E.), and enlisted their cooperation in a joint venture to try the program. Pride paid for the $3,000 worth of software.

Cindy Pharis, P.R.I.D.E. programs coordinator, is no stranger to the Face2Face technique. She has been taking pictures of students, morphing them into meth addicts and showing them on projector screens.

She said she didn’t bother to make lecturing part of her presentations, because the images had their own power and spoke for themselves. Pharis said it was eye-opening to see how quiet the students were while viewing their pictures.

"It's not overblown," Pharis said. "It's putting reality in their face."