Rockhurst High School Will Require Students to Take Mandatory Drug Tests

"The new drug testing policy at one local high school has sent a ripple through Kansas City.
Starting with the 2013-2014 school year, Rockhurst High School will be collecting hair samples from students for random drug testing – and participation is mandatory."

(Christa Dubill, "Rockhurst High School Drug Testing Policy Sends Ripple

Through City," 41 Action News KSHB, January 29 2013)

Approximately 60 strands of hair will be cut from the selected students' heads or bodies (private areas excluded) and sent off for testing by a company called Psychemedics. A staff member at Rockhurst is a barber and will be handling the hair collection.

The school will test for the use of a variety of substances over the previous 90 days, including cocaine, PCP, opiates, methamphetamine, marijuana and binge alcohol.

“Our point is, if we do encounter a student who has made some bad decisions with drugs or alcohol, we will be able to intervene, get the parents involved, get him help if necessary, and then help him get back on a path of better decision making, healthier choices for his life,” Rockhurst Principal Greg Harkness said.

According to the new policy, if a student tests positive for any of the substances, the guidance counselor assigned to that student is notified. The counselor will then bring in the parents and the student to have a conversation about how to best get the student help.

The student is given 90 days to be drug free. No administrative personnel are ever told, and the incident is only noted in the student’s guidance file. That file is destroyed upon graduation and never sent to any college or university. The only way anyone would ever see the documents is if files were subpoenaed.

Rockhurst gave these five reasons for the mandatory testing:
 
* A Significant Change in Students’ Perceptions

When asked, "Is everyone else doing it," Rockhurst students said "Yes." But, in fact, they weren’t. It’s that perception among teenagers today that fuels the peer pressure – that there’s this idea that "Everyone is doing it, so I guess I have to do it myself."

* Natural Teen Transformation

Adolescents are becoming very independent, so there are things that they do behind their parents’ back – that even the best kids do behind their parents’ back – simply because they are beginning that process of individuation and moving on.

Harkness said. "I have never had an experience as a counselor where parents were completely aware of everything that was going on – and perhaps it should be that way. Part of an adolescent’s life is to be resourceful.

* Publicized Changes with Marijuana in the Country

With continued coverage over the fight to legalize marijuana, the fact that some states have already legalized it and the ongoing discussion about the drug, teens are getting conflicting information.

* New Research on Brain Development and the Internet

Substance abuse at this critical age can have long-lasting effects and can be much harsher on adolescents than on adults and much more addictive  

Harkness said, “We also know teenagers are more susceptible to addiction and intoxication because of their stage of brain development. And so it all adds up to this perfect storm of a conversation, so to speak. We care about kids, and we care about what’s happening to them.”


The Decision To Drug Test

At Rockhurst, parents and administrators have discussed the reasons for and against drug testing for two years. KSHB reports that most parents at the school approve of the plan, but student opinion was mixed.

CBS St. Louis reports a public school would be restricted from doing the same because of the Fourth Amendment. But, Rockhurst is a Jesuit preparatory high school for boys. Tuition for the 2012-2013 academic year is $11,100. The local chapter of the ACLU says though not illegal, the school's policy is "a colossal waste of money."

The school assured parents that students on medication for specific reasons (athletic injury, ADHD, or some other condition) won't be negatively affected. Other concerns included that students could go to extremes to beat the test, and students who might indulge of "a glass of champagne at a family wedding" could get a positive reading for drug use. The school has already taken these concerns into consideration and devised satisfactory strategies to deal with them.

And, Rockhurst is still working on this potential problem: What about the kids who shave every inch of hair off their bodies to avoid testing?

Some Reasons Against Mandatory Drug Testing of Students

Of course, many people do oppose mandatory drug testing despite the fact it may be an effective method to save young lives.

* The 4^th Amendment states that, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." Schools are supposed to be independent institutions, not some kind of artificially created "government investigating bureaus."

* Drug testing is invasive, and violates students' trust in their schools. Also, drug testing will be very distracting and likely to cause rumor and tumult in the student population.

* Other methods of deterrence are less invasive, such as encouraging extra-curricular activities, drug education, fostering better parental relations, tackling poverty, and teaching safety.

* Young people have a right to expect something different from distrust from their schools and teachers. Students will definitely experience embarrassment as they are stripped of their privacy. 

* The cost of drug testing is very high (According to Rockhurst officials, their cost will be $58 per test.) Of course, costs may be higher including the entire process of collection, lab analysis, providing test results, and maintaining records. Rockhurst has a senior class of 243 students

* Many youngsters are rebellious and some are eager to protest and break the rules at school. Mandatory drug testing could attract these students towards using illegal drugs instead of preventing use. Add to this, peer pressure is increased as students unite against school authorities.

* Education is the ultimate deterrent, not random testing. If the prospect of running after dragons is not scary enough, then random drug tests sound almost like fun.

* According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2007) in order to prevent drug use you have to go to the root of the problem. The root is fostering better parental relations at home, which is a lot more effective than testing students at home.

* Parents and legal guardians of students should maintain the duty and their primary rights of having their children drug tested when the parents discover suspicious evidence that their children are involved in drug activity.

* The validity of drug testing can be questioned; drug tests are not 100% accurate. The school and its students may experience serious problems as false positive reports occur. No one wants to accuse an innocent person of being guilty and subject that person to serious psychological harm. And, follow-up testing is even more invasive and more humiliating.
 
My View

Private schools certainly have the right to make special policies. Rockhurst High School is taking what some view as the ultimate step in fighting drug abuse. The word mandatory does put a rather bitter taste in the mouths of all, even the staunch advocates of random drug testing. Why? It smells of major distrust of the majority, ineffective past deterrent policies, and extremely invasive tactics.

The question remains if this mandatory testing is warranted considering the scope and harmful effects of present drug abuse in the school versus the almost certain negative effects, at least in some degree, caused by the imposition of a controversial policy.

I believe Rockhurst is unique in the fact that (according to my research) they are a high school and not a school district complete with grade and middle schools. A school district with younger students would also face the sobering fact that instituting such a sweeping, controversial policy could require going "all the way." Why not drug test their grade school and middle school students?

Do you believe that is just absurd? Well, you may want to consider the facts.

The percentage of students who go to middle schools where drugs are used, stored or sold jumped 63 percent since 2002.

 

(Report from Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 2007)

Even if grade and middle schools have great early intervention and education programs to combat abuse, we know that drug abuse today begins early. The NIDA funded Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use and the SAMHSA funded 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated 19.9 million Americans aged 12 or older were current users of an illicit drug in 2007.

ŸOther studies estimate that 20 percent of eighth-graders report that they have tried marijuana. And, the use of Ecstasy has risen among Grade 8 and 10 students. From 2009 to 2010, the use of ecstasy among eighth-graders increased from 2.2 percent to 3.3 percent.

Many parents warn that a major risk period for children starting drug use is the summer between eighth grade and freshman year of high school because of the anxiety associated with the transition. Effective strategies against drug abuse

Another Rockhurst High quality struck me as I read their intention to use mandatory drug testing. Rockhurst is a boys' school. How much more invasive would parents of young teen girls consider this procedure? I can even imagine some girls shaving their heads to avoid being sampled.

I know, I know, testing does not presume guilt. In addition, many occupations require drug testing in the real world of work. I do know, however, that teens are very resourceful and cunning. Would drug testing lead many of them to find new, improved ways to foster deceit? Or does an intrusion from an institution even improve deterrence? I have many questions. I guess I can remain open minded at this point.

My final concern is that Rockhurst parents may decide they don't have to be responsible for closely monitoring the activity of their sons because the school has mandatory drug testing in place. I believe too many parents already believe a school's responsibility of in loco parentis (replacement parents) extends to being responsible not only to teach and maintain all values and ethics but also to insure good behavior of their children in society. I worry about drug testing as a child-rearing strategy.

And just one question to end this post:

Will all board members, administrators, teachers,

and support staff at Rockhurst be required

to take the mandatory drug tests?

I definitely think these adults should be made to comply with statutes concerning the school, drug abuse and public safety. It is only fair that employees, like students, be required to do what is necessary to help any of them get intervention, and as Principal Harkness says, "help them get back on a path of better decision making and healthier choices for their lives."

Bill Gates Says, "Grade Teachers and Give Them More Feedback"

 

Bill Gates released the annual letter from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today. Based on the Gates' travels and work with the foundation, the letter reports on how best to accomplish the foundation's priorities. This year his letter focused on "how important it is to set clear goals and measure progress in order to accomplish priorities" here in America and around the world.

This year, he reports that one of the clearest examples of the power of measurement is the work of foundation partners to support great teachers.

The foundation did extensive research on how to improve education in America. More specifically, they wanted to define the rather abstract quality of "great teaching" and better the method of grading teachers while providing them the "opportunity" to receive feedback on skills and techniques that "can help them excel in their careers." It sounds pretty good, but more measurement scares me.

Let's let Bill Gates explain :

"But what do we mean when we talk about great teaching? In my experience, the vast majority of teachers get zero feedback on how to improve.

 

"That's because for decades, our schools have lacked the kinds of measurement tools that can drive meaningful change. Teachers have worked in isolation and been asked to improve with little or no feedback, while schools have struggled to create systems to provide feedback that's consistent, fair and reliable.

 

"That's why the Gates Foundation supported the Measures of Effective Teaching, or MET, project. The project was an extraordinary, three-year collaboration between dozens of researchers and nearly 3,000 teacher volunteers from seven U.S. public school districts who opened their classrooms so we could study how to improve the way we measure and give feedback about great teaching.

 

"Earlier this month, the MET project released its final findings. The report confirmed that it is possible to develop reliable measures that identify great teaching."

 

(Bill Gates, "Grade Our Teachers, Help Our Students," CNN, January 30 2013)

This Means Putting Additional Measurements

of Teachers Into Schools

Based on my experience as a teacher and feedback from teachers still active in the profession, I must disagree with the premise of need for grading teachers. Gates says, "Teachers have worked in isolation and been asked to improve with little or no feedback." Evaluation of teachers plus feedback on their performance and means for improvement have been in place for many decades. Lately, states have increased the time spent on evaluating the performance of teachers to the point of near absurdity. America is losing good teachers because of this silly notion that teachers are going to achieve instant success and someone can design a means of evaluating long-term teacher development.

Granted, Gates does make a valid point that "schools have struggled to create systems to provide feedback that's consistent, fair and reliable." Why is this?


1. Schools have dealt with severe budget crunches and do not receive adequate funding to implement improved methods of teacher evaluation pertinent to their unique compositions of student body and environment.
 
2. Schools now spend so much time on both student testing (competency, academic, and relevant social determinants) and teacher improvement (group seminars, individual evaluation, goal setting) that less and less time is left for classroom teachers to meet the demands of ever-stricter curriculum standards.
 
3. Counselors, teachers, and students who might be involved in grading teachers not only lack the time to do the extra work but also lack the expertise to produce positive, effective results. As time consuming and difficult as the task may be, the administration is responsible for carrying out teacher evaluation procedures made clear in state law and local policy, then reported to the board of education.
 
4. A beginning teacher who lacks the type of experience that can only be developed alone, over time, and during actual classroom interaction does not need more pressure. Year after year, my experience "made" me a much better teacher.

I spent the first two years of my teaching experience as a "frightened newbie" gaining insight and a "classroom education" with each week of instruction. The classes I taught provided me with my most meaningful feedback and meaningful measurement.
 
5. Almost all teachers are capable of creating wonderful performances for evaluation purposes. But, the real measure of a great teacher is found in "the grind." I'm sure that is true for all professionals who have been extensively educated, repeatedly tested, and thoroughly evaluated before being hired.
 
I have seen "less-than-effective" teachers wilt in less than one year under the constant pressures of the classroom. They soon realize the product of their craft comes in a "thousand and one" different shapes, styles, and compositions. And each one of these students brings any additional "baggage" into the classroom. Some aim to disrupt every wonderful lesson plan while others are perfectly happy to occupy a seat and expend very little energy.

Tell me what teacher who learns how to "grind out" the stressful routine after the initial "shine" of the job wears off does not scream (And, I'm using the actual diction here.): "What the fuck have I got myself into after five (or six) years of paying college tuition?" And, believe me, the paycheck that teacher takes home is little consolation for choosing to fight each year's campaign in and out of the classroom.
 
It takes initiative, pride in self improvement, and industry to improve. Good teachers learn to maximize their best educational skills while learning how best to survive the "grinder" of day-after-day instruction. I believe the administration and the school board should assume the responsibility of firing poor teachers. They already have the means to do this.
 
6. Evaluating the strengths of a good teacher can never be reduced to some grading formula produced by a statistical-minded college, company, or research foundation convinced they can measure performance and induce steady, meaningful growth by doing so. 
 
If that were true, these fine institutions should design a Better Parent Evaluation that uses surveys, observation, and tests to measure parenting skill gains. They could administer the instrument to all parents, grade it, and provide feedback to insure good results and positive gains. Then, of course, they would have to design a method for firing incompetent parents.
 
I'm a parent of four. Let me add unanticipated reality, cruel fate, and individual human makeup to any such objective measurements of my parental performance. I'm sure I would have been fired in the first two years of my "Dadship," drummed out of the "Father Fraternity," and had my licence permanently revoked. Do I have any company?

Actually, even defining the differentiating features of "greatness" in a good teacher these days would produce vastly different descriptions than those defining a great teacher of fifty years ago.

A person judged to fit the definition

of a "great teacher" today must be...

* A thorough planner of long, detailed lessons including application of media and computer support,
 
* A fine-tuned organizer and purveyor of soundbites in small periods of time prone to continuous interruption,
 
* A dedicated, objective-minded provider of proficiency material with just a "tad" of scholastic content,
 
* A skilled manipulator of quantitative scores that reflect a conceived measure of continuous classroom improvement, 
 
* An efficient record keeper of every possible report of accountability required by the school, the administration, the state, and the special interests,
 
* A loyal supporter of more programs that require increased time of instruction with no raise in pay. 

That teacher is not the good teacher I remember. I believe teaching is an art that requires years of experience and the ability to adjust personal methods of instruction that best lend to students' comprehension, acquisition, and attainment of classroom material and appropriate thinking skills.

I believe a good teacher must inspire his/her classes to be inquisitive, learn independently, and think. Each teacher must realize the importance of designing lessons to stimulate thought, not just assign material that requires completion for a check mark or a grade.

I believe in order to advance the class, a teacher has to learn the role of instructor, not the role of substitute parent. This does not mean the teacher should ignore individual student concerns and become an automaton. It does mean that a teacher should remain an educator of a student, not a student's "best friend." The social development of an individual student is best left to parents and appropriate professionals in cases of great need. The teachers have their hands full just teaching appropriate group behavior and manners.
I believe a good teacher is "made" through meaningful interaction with others, mainly the classes he/she teaches every day. In fact, I would never call one of my old teachers a "great teacher" (And, I've had many good ones.). The teachers I hold most dear would likely immediately blush and correct me. The good ones knew they were working in a field where no one towered above the rest.

I can't imagine teachers years from now comparing the "great" grades they achieved while performing their duties as a teacher. I'm now just thinking about sharing coffee with one in a local restaurant and asking, "Hey, you were really a super teacher. What grade did you get in 2018?" I don't want to live in that kind of accountable world.

Let me close by saying this. Measurements are fine. They do possess meaning to teachers, schools, colleges, and employers. I've had so many good students who went on to accomplish wonderful things in their lives who were top-notch, straight-A's in my 12th grade high school classes. They were a joy to teach and I admire them so much. Many of them are my good friends today.

However, I've also had B, C, even low D students who found themselves motivated sometime later in life. Every now and then one of them will see me in public, approach me, and tell me about how he/she appreciated my class and my teaching. Some of them even remember what I used to tell classes to attempt to stimulate achievement. This is what I said:

"You know, in life, if you are graced with a silver spoon in your mouth and an outstanding brain, you are lucky, and most people expect you to excel in everything you do. I hope you do.

"But, if fate doesn't provide you with the best, and you struggle to overcome hardships and deficiencies, others will see that you deserve double the respect of those born gifted. And, they will reward you for your efforts.

"If you work your best and achieve a C or a D, you can rest assured that I think you are a success. But, the secret to gaining respect is perseverance and living up to your potential. Some of you, as of yet, have no idea what your potential is. You have felt defeated for so long, you have never tried to reach your limits.

"I cannot achieve a grade for you. Only you can do it. I may encourage you to work harder and get a better grade, but I won't say anything that suggests you're a loser if your grade is low. I have seen many a C or D student living up to his/her potential that I would consider the most promising student in my class."

And, guess what, many lower scoring students I taught have led wonderful, successful lives and have already achieved their wildest dreams. If I don't believe that excellent grades necessarily show "greatness" in a student, how can I believe they will show who is a "great teacher"? I couldn't begin to grade the wonderful teachers in my past. Besides, doing so would just demean their good performance.

So, you decide what you think about grading teachers. Here is what Bill Gates reported:

"It is possible to develop reliable measures that identify great teaching.

"In the first year of the study, teaching practice was measured using a combination of student surveys, classroom observations, and student achievement gains. Then, in the second year, teachers were randomly assigned to different classrooms of students. The students’ outcomes were later measured using state tests and supplemental assessments designed to measure students’ conceptual understanding in math and ability to write short answer responses following reading passages. The teachers whose students did better during the first year of the project also had students who performed better following random assignment. Moreover, the magnitude of the achievement gains they generated aligned with the predictions. This is the first large-scale study to demonstrate, using random assignment, that it is possible to identify great teaching."

(Bill Gates, "Grade Our Teachers, Help Our Students," CNN, January 30 2013)

 

 

Changing the Appalachian State of Mind: Scioto Eco-psychology

 

"Hillshadow" by Kenner Beckley
 
Time is measured by the peaks;
the backlit sun all at once speaks.
But here our plodding, muddled wills
live in the shadow of the hills.

Poet Kenner Beckley reminds us that Appalachia is not just a place but also a state of mind. He states, "They (the mountains and hills) represent the daily tension between the hope of what lies beyond the peaks and the reality of where we live in the valley where horizons are so limited." Beckley believes this is kind of existential blindness.

I, like Kenner, believe Appalachia represents the struggle of the individual against the collective. First inhabited over 16,000 years ago by the pre-Clovis culture, then by the Adena and Hopewell of the Archaic period, and later by Native American tribes such as the Shawnee, native groups all developed strong cultures here that eventually experienced the ultimate fall to the white settlers of colonial America.

The Western movement of colonial Europeans first came into the area in the 18th century.

Settled largely by the indomitable Scots-Irish seeking cheaper land and freedom (considered by some Quaker leaders as "savages"), the people of Appalachia helped shape the American identity with very definite, independent traits: loyalty to kin, extreme mistrust of governmental authority and legal strictures, and a propensity to bear arms and to use them.

As they moved to Appalachia during the same Western movement, large populations of German and English settlers also adopted the same stubborn, mountain wilderness ideals. Thus, the archetype of the American frontiersman was born. Most of the character traits and beliefs of these early Appalachian inhabitants have survived. The hillbilly of today is the product of generations of isolationism who understands the necessity of clannish, distrusting opposition to any form of outside control.

Yet the Appalachia of America has historically been exploited by collectivist institutions: unions, the War on Poverty, giant corporations and utilities, and cronyism. A student of history soon understands the paradox of  the Appalachian people -- to this day, they remain so utterly individualistic, yet so enslaved. Kenner explains the "fight" in Appalachians very well when he notes the following:

"This fight is a part of the greater struggle against death. One experiences dying as an individual, not as a collective. So to bury one’s identity within the collective is essentially to die."

(Kenner Beckley, "HillShadow," Appalachian Mountains, hillshadow.com)

Access the Link, click here: http://hillshadow.com/

The Land, Transcendentalism, Eco-Psychology, and You 


We Appalachians have been entrusted with the beautiful, rich land.

When American philosopher/naturalist Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was a philosopher of nature and its relation to the human condition. When he retreated to Walden Pond to reflect and find his moorings in nature, he followed a loose and idealist philosophy advocated by Emerson, Fuller, and Alcott. They held that an ideal spiritual state transcends, or goes beyond, the physical and empirical, and that one achieves that insight via personal intuition rather than religious doctrine.

In their view, Nature is the outward sign of inward spirit, expressing the "radical correspondence of visible things and human thoughts," as Emerson wrote in Nature (1836).

Thoreau called the philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s transcendentalism. The movement was a protest to the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard Divinity School.

Transcendentalists believed in the inherent goodness of both people and nature. They thought that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—ultimately corrupted the purity of the individual. They had faith that people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent. Transcendentalists believed that only from such real individuals could community be formed.

Today, a person who follows transcendentalist beliefs might be known to practice eco-psychology. This term identifies the profound human need for connection with the natural world and the disease that erupts when we are disconnected or when the world around us is toxic.

In the Appalachia of today, and more specifically in the Scioto County of today, most residents have accepted the fact that they live in a nation where outsiders consider their home as a blight on the map of a mighty country, a center of low living standards, undeveloped industrial bases, and low Human Development Indexes.

It is evident to me that most people in Scioto County need better employment with higher wages. They need better, affordable housing; they need better shopping and recreational facilities; and they need better health care. We residents pray, wait, and speak about change, and we hope our dreams will become reality. Yet, the general attitude about achieving any important change is "no one is going to invest in a poor, depleted region." So, residents are content to watch the dust and rust accumulate as they reminisce about "the good old days."

Still, Americans have a collective longing for happiness, ecstasy, and taking exciting risks that accompany the acquisition of pleasure. And, since Scioto County lacks so many available, healthy resources needed for wholesome living, people young and old escape the depressing reality of their home and seek temporary satisfaction.

Unfortunately, almost all here bow to peer pressure and natural drives to achieve desires. We find our special cliques; then, we socially lubricate ourselves with substances and acquire unnecessary status symbols we believe will aid our quest for contentment.

Our human brains are hardwired for the experience of ecstasy. We really can't escape that. But, many in Scioto County cannot exercise the necessary restraint needed to cope with inevitable unhappiness when it occurs; they simply cannot cope with any modicum of physical or mental pain. These people often become dependent upon the things that help them maintain their ecstatic state, and too many of them become addicted to these tools that produce a false perception of a long term, pleasurable existence -- sex, food, money, drugs, gambling, etc. begin to control individuals as they bask in serotonin secretions.

Here, so many give in or give up. Instead of seeking those things that bring real happiness, finding people to provide them with better relationships, and educating themselves to acquire improved skills that will allow them to give back to their neighbors, they become just more "sad victims" of Scioto deprivation. Isolated within their circle of consoling, sad, bitching friends, they find enough empathy to survive on food stamps and other forms of government assistance. Hope and ambition die. Then, they lose the best of the Appalachian character. They are no longer strong, independent hillbillies, and they become dependent, pitiful believers of a cursed destiny.

Felicitas Goodman (1914-2005), Hungarian-born linguist and anthropologist, developed a theory that ecstasy deprivation is the underlying cause of all addictions. Even though addictions are related to genetic predisposition and faulty neurology, the basic biology that produces the physical experience of ecstasy has gone haywire in a culture that does not teach us how to achieve it naturally, drug free.

Goodman researched the history of trance to accomplish natural connections. Indigenous cultures and the civilizations of antiquity were aware of this and developed specific rituals to induce and channel trance energies to detoxify and nourish the subtle body in order to experience the ecstatic reality that gives life to matter.

Now, I'm not a big believer in trance to achieve altered states of consciousness, but I do believe, like Goodman, that ecstasy is essentially a spiritual experience. We become ecstatic when our conscious awareness transcends our ego but at the same time aligns with our body, allowing us to be fully aware.

Could eco-psychology reawaken the Appalachian's need for connection to the natural world and the satisfaction and ecstasy we can tap from our environment? Is there pain and delusion without nature?

Ecopsychologists have begun detecting unspoken grief within individuals, an escalation of pain and despair, felt in response to widespread environmental destruction. The field of eco-psychology intends to illustrate how environmental disconnection functions as an aspect of existing pathologies, without creating a new category.

The contention is that if a culture is disconnected from nature, then various aspects of an individual's life will be negatively impacted. Listen to these wise words from author Theodore Roszack:

"Over a century ago, Emerson lamented that 'few adult persons can see nature.' If they could, they would know that 'in the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, no disgrace or calamity . . . which nature cannot repair."
 
"When highly stressed people are asked to visualize a soothing scene, nobody imagines a freeway or a shopping mall. Rather, images of wilderness, forest, seascape, and starry skies invariably emerge. In taking such experiences seriously, ecopsychologists are broadening the con- text of mental health to include the natural environment. They are hastening the day when calling our bad environmental habits "crazy" will be more than a rhetorical outburst. The word will have behind it the full weight of considered professional consensus.
 
"This, in turn, could be of enormous value in opening people to our spiritual, as well as physical, dependence upon nature. The time may not be far off when environmental policy-makers will have something more emotionally engaging to work with than the Endangered Species Act. They will be able to defend the beauties and biodiversity of nature by invoking an environmentally based definition of mental health."

 (Theodore Roszack,"The nature of sanity," Psychology Today, January 1 1996)

The theory contends that if our culture is out of balance with nature, everything about our lives is affected; family, workplace, school, community—all take on a crazy shape. For example, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders  (DSM) defines "separation anxiety disorder" as "excessive anxiety concerning separation from home and from those to whom the individual is attached." But, according to Roszack, no separation is more pervasive in this Age of Anxiety than our disconnection from the natural world.

 

Proponents also believe that without the influence of nature, humans are prone to a variety of delusions, and that to some degree life in the wild forms the basis for human sanity and optimal psychological development. The topic is explored in detail Paul Shepard's book Nature and Madness.

 

It is also proposed that separation from outdoor contact causes a loss of sensory and information-processing ability that was developed over the course of human evolution, which was spent in direct reciprocity with the environment.

(Paul Shepard, Nature and Madness, 1998)

 

 

My View

Scioto County Appalachian residents have been living on this land for thousands of years. Many changes have occurred. Wars have been fought, and entire civilizations along with their customs and ways have been displaced from their Southern Ohio homeland. Some have completely disappeared.

 

As a European descendant, I must acknowledge my own responsibility for part of this forced alteration and destructive change. I honestly don't know how to address this without saying "I am sorry for great losses." I do know that my ancestors, the pioneers, held a deep love and respect for their new land. In this beautiful setting, they were proud, brave and independent people.

 

But, within the last fifty years or so, the Scioto County resident's state of mind has altered. In my own lifetime, I have witnessed the county weather setbacks and adapt to change with considerable industry and grace. To me, little of that gutsy, fighting, positive individualism remains.

 

Today, discouraging words seem to be the only description of our county coming from most native tongues. Besides relating a few fond memories -- the A-Plant boom, the shoe factories, the bustling business downtown, Dreamland Pool -- people express dissatisfaction with life in Scioto County.

 

Despite some evidence of the contrary, these words slowly burn into the brains of our young, and they, in turn, express disgust for their county. Tragically, many of these fine young Scioto Countians leave upon graduation to find colleges and jobs, and they have no desire to ever return. 

 

It is as if we residents cannot open our eyes to the natural setting in which we dwell. Kyle T. Kramer described our land like this...

 

"To see creation at its finest, visit the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. A region of rugged beauty, the southern Appalachians are the oldest mountain range in North America and one of the most ancient on earth. They teem with more than 10,000 known species of flora and fauna, the richest biological diversity in the temperate world. Lovely beyond words, these green hills echo Eden."

 

(Kyle T. Kramer, "Appalachia's Wounds," October 4 2010)

 

We live in a wonderful setting, but we need a new state of mind here -- a mindset that we and our resources can become better together through good leadership, determination, positive attitude, and, most of all, hard work. We need thousands of Scioto County residents to improve conditions with individual actions. These actions must begin in the homes, extend to the educational facilities, and bloom into the roads and streets of our land as we become a much tighter, more caring community.

 

By community, I mean Lucasville, Wheelersburg, New Boston, Portsmouth and all the other villages and hamlets. For too long we have kept our faith, protection, and love restricted in isolated communities all around this county. Appalachians are clannish and distrustful of strangers, yet in this new "smaller" world" of technology, we are all so dependent upon each other. Interaction and wider concern should change divisive minds into inclusive minds. We must learn to protect, help, and defend each other no matter whether we live in Franklin Furnace or in Minford.

 

Eco-psychology would have us clean up our county in word and in deed. To restore our proper relationship with nature and homeland, we must tackle our own problems with the gusto of the pioneers, who also faced overwhelming odds.

 

We all know we can never escape the Appalachian attraction of nature -- the hills, the rivers, the wildlife. How can we be so negligent as to try to escape our obligation to improve this dismal mindset that we helped create?

In a noble land so grounded in rich history and in proud accomplishments of our deceased ancestors, we have taken a negative attitude that perpetuates itself. We need to become good stewards of the ground beneath our feet and good "keepers" of our brother and sister citizens. Think out of the box. Taking care entails improving yourself, your family, and your area; however it also calls for us all to come to the aid of all Appalachians. Scioto is a small county of 80,000 people who need each other.

Perhaps, just maybe, the land is the key to solving all our miseries. We are occupying the land here for a while, then, eventually, we too will pass on this treasure to someone new. You see, land is not something you can really "possess." You can build a house on it, raise your children on it, and live your dreams on it. Still, Mother Nature, God, and time control every aspect of your so-called "possession." Your final contribution to the land will be the flesh and bones of your body as "dust turns to dust." That is nature's way.

 

Eco-psychology is seeking to expand the definition of sanity to embrace the love for the living planet that is reborn in every child. .

 
A Little "Food for Thought"

 

 

"There is no value in life except what you choose to place

upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself."

--Henry David Thoreau

 

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought

will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path,

we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think

 over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."

--Henry David Thoreau

 

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave,

find your eternity in each moment.

Fools stand on their island of opportunities

and look toward another land.

There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”

--Henry David Thoreau

“Apply yourself both now and in the next life.
Without effort, you cannot be prosperous.
Though the land be good, You cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation.”

--Plato quotes (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

 

 

 

Get Your Anchor of Life From the Ancient Plant of Joy!

Hur...ry, Hur...ry, Hur...ry, ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys!

Step right up and place your money down to experience the ultimate,

the most spectacular pain-relieving, mind-altering experience of your life!

Have a taste of our magic potion for complete relief from all your pains!

Over 4,000 years ago, the ancient civilizations of Persia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia discovered the wild Papaver somniferum plant produced a poppy that grew seedpods containing latex rich in mysterious, medicinal alkaloids. When dried, the juice from the seedpods of the poppy became the greatest natural magical elixir of all time.

 You too can reap the benefits of this stupendous ancient discovery! Just listen to this rich history.

The Plant of Joy, as it soon became known, continued to evolve through centuries of select breeding and improved cultivation. The ancient Egyptians traded this profitable wonder drug to the Phoenicians and Minoans, who then moved it across the Mediterranean Sea into Greece, Carthage, and Europe.

Soon, the all the populations of the civilized world were enjoying the benefits of the little poppy! The people called it...

The Juice of the Gods!

The Sacred Anchor Of Life!

The Milk Of Paradise!

The Almighty Destroyer Of Grief!

Step right up and discover for yourself the supernatural panacea used by the ancient physicians of Greece and Rome!

Homer, the renowned Greek storyteller, conveys its effects in The Odyssey. When Telemachus is depressed after failing to find his father Odysseus, Helen, wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta, offers her help...

"She had a happy thought. Into the bowl in which their wine was mixed, she slipped a drug that had the power of robbing grief and anger of their sting and banishing all painful memories. No one who swallowed this dissolved in their wine could shed a single tear that day, even for the death of his mother or father, or if they put his brother or his own son to the sword and he were there to see it done..."

Just listen to what Classical Greek physician Galen said about the amazing medical applications of this wonder drug. He noted how it...

 "...resists poison and venomous bites, cures chronic headache, vertigo, deafness, epilepsy, apoplexy, dimness of sight, loss of voice, asthma, coughs of all kinds, spitting of blood, tightness of breath, colic, the lilac poison, jaundice, hardness of the spleen stone, urinary complaints, fever, dropsies, leprosies, the trouble to which women are subject, melancholy and all pestilences."

This medical wonder spread to Asia's trade routes and expanded to India, then reached China by the eighth century, all the while enriching the lives of those with illness and pain as it entered the pharmacopoeia of governments everywhere.
 
And soon, spurred by widespread public use, the recreational benefits of the powdery substance became evident! People everywhere found the wonder drug produced enchanted, rapturous effects that were irresistible. From Calcutta to Bombay to Peking people used the analgesic drug not only to relieve pain but also to enjoy unparalleled feelings of instant pleasure and euphoria.

Even many years later, Thomas Sydenham, the 17th-century pioneer of English medicine, wrote...

"Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty God to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so universal and so efficacious as opium."

Everyone eulogized its amazing properties. A leading American medical textbook (1868) revealed that the substance...

"...causes a feeling of delicious ease and comfort, with an elevation of the whole moral and intellectual nature...There is not the same uncontrollable excitement as from alcohol, but an exaltation of our better mental qualities, a warmer glow of benevolence, a disposition to do great things, but nobly and beneficently, a higher devotional spirit, and withal a stronger self-reliance, and consciousness of power. Nor is this consciousness altogether mistaken. For the intellectual and imaginative faculties are raised to the highest point compatible with individual capacity...

 

"Opium seems to make the individual, for a time, a better and greater man...."

And, yes, even some of the founding fathers of America praised the poppy. Here is an account of the affection the author of independence had for the plant:

“Thomas Jefferson cultivated opium poppies at his medicinal garden in Monticello. The seeds from its plants, including the poppies, were sold at the gift-shop of Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants until 1991 - when a drug-bust at the nearby University of Virginia panicked the Board of Directors into ripping up the plants and burning the seeds.”

 
And now, you too can enjoy the euphoria of opium. So, step right up for this relatively cheap, easily available wonder drug!

And, now, thanks to the miracle of science, professionals have converted opium into heroin, which is less bulky, making it easier to hide and smuggle everywhere.

Convenience guaranteed!

Heroin can be taken by intravenous injection, by subcutaneous injection, by suppository (anal or vaginal insertion), by vaporizing and inhaling it intranasally, or by “going out on a limb” and eating it.

And, folks, be assured that heroin is one, dependable, powerful medicine!

Guaranteed to give you more bang for your buck, the conversion into heroin also multiplies its potency to approximately twice that of morphine.

It comes in lovely forms of white powder, brown sugar, or black tar!

Opium, heroin, and opiates (derived from opium or synthetic version) are used by the rich, famous, and the intellectual. Just ask the following...

John Belushi, Keith Richards, Chris Farley, Janis Joplin,

River Phoenix, Sid Vicious, Jim Morrison, Charles Dickens,

Kurt Cobain, Bela Lugosi, Billie Holliday,

Robert Downey Jr., and Edgar Allen Poe

Now, select the grade and price of opiate you need from our large selection.

Try one or a combination for that supreme effect. Let us help you begin your adventure today! Our large selection includes the following common opiate drugs:

• Opium
• Codeine
• Morphine
• Tramadol (Ultram)
• Methadone
• Buprenorphine (Subutex)
• Propoxyphene (Darvocet)
• Pethidine (Demerol)
• Hydrocodone (Lortab/Vicodin)
• Oxycodone (Percocet, Oxycontin)
• Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
• Oxymorphone (Opana)
• Fentanyl
• Heroin (diacetylmorphine)
 

So, What Are You Waiting For?

You say you want to experience the ancient, Sacred Anchor of life?


You say you need immediate relief from excruciating chronic pain?


You say you would do anything to continue being absolutely pain free?


You say you want that mellow feeling of euphoria that allows you to float away from the overwhelming pressures of everyday life?


You say you need to calm your nerves to deal better with your work and your family?


You say you are underage and crave an emotional anesthesia that both parents and teachers find hard to detect?


You say you just need a flash of pleasurable satisfaction to slow down your whirling thoughts and actions?

You say you suffer from insomnia and need a little something extra to induce your well-deserved rest?

You say you want to feel true serenity and the medicated warmth of simple life?

You say you, like the writers of the Romantic era, you wish to alter your thinking and “free your mind” to ecstasies that produce images and raw material for literary discovery and creation?

Use Opium, Heroin and Related Opiates

 

 

For That Eternal Paradise!

(*Just an Important Notification in Fine Print)

 



The Signs of Opiate Abuse

All prescription opiates have become hard to obtain because of their addictive nature, but unfortunately problems with these drugs are continuing to rise throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of people that do not have a prescription to any opiates live with an addiction to opiates and this causes problems in all aspects of their life. When someone is addicted to opiates, in any case or form, they will show warning signs. These signs include problems such as

Trouble with school:

grades dropping or quitting all together
Changes in their social group
Mood swings
Aggression
Depression
Weight loss
Insomnia
Loss of a job or career
And changes in physical appearance: sunk in eyes, unhealthy appearing skin, and tiredness

The warning signs mentioned above can be visible within days of misuse beginning and they vary from person to person and in some cases they can even be more extreme. When an individual is using opiates they will experience both short term and long term side effects of the drug. The short term effects of opiates usually last for up to several hours and can include, but is not limited to:

Euphoria
Increases in body temperature
Dry mouth
Heavy feeling appendages
Drowsiness
Insomnia
Increased heart rate
Head aches
And agitation

The Effects of Opiate Abuse

Other than the short term effects of taking opiates, there are also the long term effects of taking opiates. These devastating effects come into effect after several months of misuse and they can remain present for the rest of the individual’s life, regardless if he or she comes clean from the opiates.

The common long term effects of opiates list:

Possible contraction of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis
Anorexia
Poor hygiene (rotting teeth, aged skin, and unhealthy eyes, hair and nails)
Infections to the heart valves
Liver disease
Collapsed veins
Respiratory depression
And death

One other major issue that occurs in thousands of people’s lives every year is the problem of opiate overdose. This problem occurs for several reasons such as taking too much of one drug to get high or stopping use for a period of time and going back to your large quantity that your body was used to. An overdose can be determined by the following warning signs of:

Vomiting
Diarrhea
Confusion
Slurred speech
Rapid heart beat
And seizure

The Importance of Seeking Help for Opiate Abuse or Addiction

An overdose can cause sudden death if it is not addressed immediately. Seeking help if any of the warning signs mentioned above is the only way to ensure the safety of yourself or your loved one.
Opiate use rising in America can lead to problems for the country and an economic downturn is almost inevitable. This is due to the quantities of people that become addicted to opiates.

Because of this drug addictive nature and side effects people that become addicted to the drugs will stop at nothing in order to obtain more. They will risk things in their life that sober people would never consider risking and these risks can include the following:
Their family (giving up their families because they do not approve of their misuse of opiates)

Their friends (forgetting friends because they do not like taking drugs the way that they do)

Their homes (another bill worth getting rid of in order to be able to obtain their next prescription opiates high)

Their physical health (something that no opiate addict cares about simply because they cannot stop using opiates no matter what)

And their lives (they will use and use until there is nothing left. No money, no family or friends, and even their physical health. Eventually opiates will take everything a person loves and leave them with nothing but death.)

(Julie Martin, “The Dangers of Opiates,” TechMaza Infotech, April 4 2012)

Julie Martin's Post: http://techmaza.in/the-dangers-of-opiates/

Who We Are: Fix the Scioto County Problem of Drug Abuse Facebook Group

Since its inception several years ago, the Fix the Scioto Country Problem of Drug Abuse Facebook Group has given county communities a modern, fast link of communications. We have used the link to disseminate news about local developments; to rally public, political, and agency support; to share studies and articles concerning prevention, treatment, and intervention; to make announcements about meetings and events of local service and support groups; to update ongoing activities and court proceedings; to post inspirational messages and devotions; and to provide an open forum for anyone to express their opinions about health epidemic of Scioto County drug abuse.


Among its specific actions, the Facebook Group has initiated and participated in many of the following measures and activities:


* Held 10 protests against pill mills, "The Pill Mill Farewell Tour," in 10 different areas of Scioto County

* Called numerous Facebook Group meetings to recruit members, plan strategies, and initiate activities against abuse

* Led campaigns and sent E-mails and other personal communication to local, state, and national lawmakers calling attention to the Scioto County Epidemic of Drug Abuse 

* Rallied members to help acquire better enforcement, improved education, and more affordable rehab facilities

* Interviewed with National Public Radio, Men's Health Magazine, The Washington Post, the Ohio News Network (ONN), The Portsmouth Daily Times, and other media

 * Held and organized multiple commemorations of the National Day of Prayer featuring many area ministers of all faiths

* Held and organized a commemoration of appreciation for Law Enforcement Day featuring members of the Portsmouth FOP, the Scioto County Sheriffs Office, and the local Ohio State Patrol Post 73

* Sponsored and help distribute Al Oliver's "Get on Base, Not on Drugs" Little League Baseball patch

* Wrote articles, letters, and organized human support for Ohio House Bill 93 Prescription Drug Legislation

* Helped plan and participated in "7 Marches in 7 Weeks" Apostolic and faith-based initiative in Portsmouth, Ohio to canvass the city and offer outreach

* Drafted a successful online petition with detailed comments and 177 supporters on change.org against the opening of Physicians Pharmacy in Piketon, Ohio and mailed all information to the DEA

* Supported and campaigned for the Prevention School Levy "Save Our Kids"

* Helped plan and participated in a Portsmouth Town Hall Meeting

* Initiated action and worked with Attorney John McHenry and Portsmouth City Council to draft and pass an ordinance to regulate the practice of pain clinics in the city

* Organized support against Attorney Hillman’s request for an injunction against the City of Portsmouth’s implementation of that ordinance

* Cooperated with and participated in the Scioto Drug Action Team, SOLACE, The Garrett C. Maloney Memorial Foundation, the Counseling Center, Loved Ones education and support group, the Appalachian Regional Commission, Governor Kasich, Attorney General DeWine, local law enforcement, DEA, Portsmouth City Council, Piketon Village Council, local schools, and different citizen groups

From scratch, Fix the Scioto County Problem of Drug Abuse Facebook Group has built a good membership and readership. We serve as a direct communications link for all interested people. The group is open and frequently updated with vital information. We ask that you read the comments and posts each day to keep abreast of local, state, and national developments. Ask to join the group if you have not as yet done so.

Believe it or not, our grass roots plan of action in Scioto County has become a model for countless other American communities struggling with how to approach the problem of drug abuse. We have health officials, lawmakers, enforcement officials, and respected journalists in our membership who rely on Fix the Scioto County Problem for up-to-date, factual information and for editorial comment.

I hope you can see that the service our Facebook group provides extends far beyond communication. We have done many things in a few years, but we cannot stop to celebrate the positive steps we have taken. Is is vital that the membership remains active against drug abuse. This means a renewal of interest for some "old warriors" and a commitment from many "new faces" to join us in our hard, yet rewarding work.

In order to accomplish more, we need the support of dedicated citizens who want to be activists in our movement. We presently number 3,293 members, the majority of which are local. We appreciate all of our members, so please, keep reading, learning, and helping others from your home base if you cannot physically attend our functions. Your interest, comments, prayers, and opinions mean so much. Thanks for everything you do.

But, just for a minute imagine the possibilities for accomplishments if thousands of our members commit to the challenge of active involvement. We hope many of you can do this. We encourage you to be a part of the ongoing work.

Before you attend our meeting at the SOLACE Center, 2837 Scioto Trail (right beside the Pizza Pub) in Portsmouth, Ohio, on January 28 at 7:00 P.M., please consider what we can do to increase proactive intervention and preventative interaction. We need your ideas, your questions, and your concerns. The pill mills are gone, but we remain in the thick of the fight against drug abuse. Our mission is to save lives. We honestly believe we are accomplishing that goal, but we can do so much more with your assistance. Thanks. Think along the following lines to help us with new strategies.


Proactive Intervention and Preventative Interaction

A safe community must have proactive intervention and preventative interaction with community members.

Proactive Intervention involves many techniques including the following:

* Interference,

* Interdiction (steady actions for the purpose of delaying and disorganizing progress),

* Harassment (impediments that impede and exhaust activity),

* Enforcement

Preventative Interaction, by contrast, involves these things:

* Communication,

* Trust Building,

* Commitment, and

* Caring for Community Members

Super-ego and Self Insight

 

 

Hey, here's a word or two for the restless and the bored. You are not going to find what you're looking for by playing hour upon hour of video games. You won't find the answer in some text message that flashes onto the screen of your Droid or iPad.

You can hop in your car, drive to the mall, and shop for it all day, but, if you're looking for the real thing, don't waste your time and money. You'll soon find no store can fill your order. No substitute purchase can satisfy your longing.

You might decide to talk with your BBF, your posse, and the person you are "going with" (whatever that means these days). You can analyze, quantify, reason, read your horoscope, or seek advice from psychics until your faculties fray, yet you still will crave more.

You can search the files of eHarmony and Match.com, chat, and hook up with varied types of individuals that share your common interests. You can find your soul mate, build a passionate relationship together rivaling that of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, meticulously plan your marriage, and live a life of romance and contentment with your significant other. Still, you will likely feel that strange restlessness.

You can lovingly conceive child after child, graciously adopt the needy, or fill your life with a dozen souls who grow up with all the trappings of deadbeat dads or baby mamas. Then, you will still realize your answer does not lie in your right to populate your tiny space of the earth with kin.

You can dutifully struggle for the necessities and the luxuries provided by the legal tender. And, you can use that money to surround yourself with the fanciful, expensive "toys" that provide temporary happiness and a perception of higher status. In your enormous, golden crib adorned with all the precious ornaments of wealth, you will still feel the missing piece of your existence.

You can read book after book, watch films until your eyes ache, and immerse yourself in psychology or philosophy or religion, and maybe you'll find a clue or two. Still, most likely, your confusion will continue, possible even increase, as the "whites" and the "blacks" in your mind become one shade of dull, useless grey.

You see, I believe the very fact you were born a unique human being leaves you with only one source for your innermost need. You must look within to come closer to the truth. Most of the answer you seek lies buried somewhere deep within yourself. So deep, in fact, that many people live their entire lives and never find the complete realization. And, some, preferring to conform or remain clueless, never even try.

I believe who you really are is singularly precise and yet very relative to fate. It is precise to your own given makeup -- physical, emotional, and intellectual. And, it is precise in the fact that your decisions of free will are framed in the time and the space that limit your life.

You were born of fate, and you remain vulnerable to the risks of fate until you reach your ultimate mortal demise. If you are lucky, you will have approximately 40,000,000 or so earthly minutes of existence to satisfy any and all of your needs. Perhaps, some of that time might be lived more happily knowing what makes you George, or Betty, or Mohammed.

I believe human beings each have a purpose significant to their existence. I understand the essential needs that all people have for love, shelter, food, and desires for all accessories that make life comfortable and pleasurable. However, I feel many people today have no clue how to find an acceptable answer for the particular need that satisfies the meaning of their existence.

In my mind, the need to justify a good, correct "self" is something that makes relationships, family, wealth, work, and all other things related to meaningful, successful living.

I mourn the decline of interest in developing self insight and the insistence of the masses to develop "right" and "wrong" categories of people based on a bandwagon mentality. I long to see more individuality through the means of self discovery. Maybe some basic psychology can help us find ourselves, or at least consider the "person" in our personality.

Sigmund Said...

We all are aware of Freud's three part structural model of the psyche.

The id is the unorganized part of the personality structure that contains a human's basic, instinctual drives. Id is the only component of personality that is present from birth. It acts according to the "pleasure principle," seeking to avoid pain or unpleasure aroused by increases in instinctual tension.
Some might call the id "an unorganized cauldron full of seething excitations.

The ego seeks to please the id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bringing prolonged grief. So, a person's ego attempts to mediate between id and reality, and it is often obliged to cloak the unconscious commands of the id with its own rationalizations or defense mechanisms such as denial, fantasy, or regression.

The ego could refer to one’s self-esteem, sense of self-worth, or the conscious-thinking self. Somewhere in a child's early development, it begins to be aware of similarities and differences, and it starts to realize the individuality of others and of its own self. This development continues as multiple processes, cognitive function, defenses, and interpersonal skills of the person emerge.

The super-ego comprises that organized part of the personality structure, mainly but not entirely unconscious, that includes the individual's ego ideals, spiritual goals, and the psychic agency that criticizes and prohibits drives, fantasies, feelings, and actions.

The super-ego can be thought of as a conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt. For example, for having extra-marital affairs. Taken in this sense, the super-ego is the precedent for the conceptualization of the inner critic or the "inner voice."

Some say that the demands of an individual's super-ego coincide with the precepts of the prevailing cultural super-ego. And, I believe the cultural development of the group and the cultural development of the individual, are always interlocked. But,

According to Freud, the super-ego, the last part of the psyche to develop, begins to emerge at around age five as a person acquires from both parents and society a sense of right and wrong. This development is largely in response to parental punishment and approval -- a result of a child’s internalization of his parents’ moral standards, a process greatly aided by a tendency to identify with the parents.

Then, in time, the super-ego begins to act as a type of inner "parental agency" needed by a person to maintain moral behavior. It continues to develop into young adulthood as a person encounters other admired role models and copes with the rules and regulations of the larger society. The super-ego aims for perfection as it provides guidelines for making judgments.

Yet, with so many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego and superego.

For example, some individuals develop little or no super-ego to restrain their instinctual urges. Their strong id, with its basic drives and urges, dominates their actions without much restraint. These people act out of impulse and seek only self-gratification.

Others might develop too much or too little ego strength, and these individuals with overly strong egos can become too unyielding and disruptive while those with very weak egos become "invisible" and unproductive as they view challenges as something to avoid. Add to this potential for problems that the super-ego's demands often oppose the id’s demands, so the ego sometimes has a hard time in reconciling the two.
And, of course, those who have dominating super-egos tend to have rigid, unbending morals and be too judgmental. They may restrict important feelings, possess needless guilt, and be afraid to compromise any personal opinion or belief.

According to Freud, in a healthy person, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. And, that is quite a tall order for any individual.


My View

I think the need to identify purpose is a desire that springs from the super-ego. I believe finding an answer or two to "who you are" is crucial to the well-being of an individual. Today, many people do not know how to access their own ideals and comprehend their own sense of spirituality. They seek answers but repeatedly rely upon outside forces to influence any personal decision they must make, which, unfortunately, often feeds a false sense of ego without nourishing their inner core -- their super-ego. 

Self-actualization can lay bare the super-ego and further reveal the framework of a conscience that helps maintain an important inner sense of morality and right. Thorough introspection and a true belief that happiness is personal and lies within our individual souls can guard against taboos as narcissistic satisfaction from the ego. The "I" in life diminishes as one understands his unique spiritual nature.

I believe in love and in family and in a generous society; however, I do not think a person can find sufficient "Who am I?" answers from others. I believe a person must look within to tap his/her own personal gifts and talents that are meant to contribute to a unique, God-given purpose for living. That "little voice" inside can maximize the efforts of godliness within us all. That is why I believe we all should seek it.

In order to do this, a person must trust that spiritual beliefs are not only vital to life after death but also vital to living a fulfilling life. A person without a spiritual purpose who neglects the duty to search for the necessity of his/her own existence will feel significant emptiness. Since I feel everyone has a solitary makeup, I think each person must accept the reality of the spiritual being they find within and cope with understanding how best to employ it.

To me, the search does not necessarily lead to a realization of "who I should be" but rather to a confirmation of "who I am." By looking inside, I feel I better know myself  and have realized many of my biggest faults and my best strengths. I count on my own conception of super-ego to better what I conceive to be my intended purpose, but like all humans, I fall and fail with regularity.

Yet, having done a search for meaning, I try to repent of my egotistical sins and admit honestly my headstrong errors. These are the times I attempt to supplant my ignorant actions with doubled conviction and use my talents to do more good and commit to being the best of "who I am." Somehow, this allows me to accept my faults and go on living.        

I know I am just my imperfect self, yet I understand any modicum of perfection I experience stems directly from the psyche of my spirituality.