about the project
As a NYC public high school student, I have witnessed situations that are considered wrongful in the eyes of many. These issues don’t only occur within the school environment, but in our communities as well. The people that are most affected by these events are the youth. As teenagers, most of us are prone to take certain actions in order to “fit in” or make us seem acceptable to society. One of these actions is the use of drugs among teens, more specifically the use of marijuana. In today’s day in age, the use of technology is at its peak, which means that the use of social media has almost become an essential factor in our lives.
There is nothing wrong with the use of social media generally, the problem lies in how teens choose to use it. There are common posts of teenagers smoking marijuana or messages targeted to the use of the drug. They imply that these are the actions that they need to take in order for society to accept them. After really evaluating this issue, it occurred to me that I should attempt to challenge what is considered “cool” within the high school. I started thinking of the five-year plan. Several of my peers are unsure about their five year plan and are just living for now. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if they practice negative habits now, a successful future isn’t guaranteed. I then spoke to a few students to get their perspective on what success is and what they had to say was reasonable. This is what inspired me to create this piece to show two viewpoints aside from each other to really get teenagers to think. As an artist, I always try to connect with an audience. With this specific piece I feel that my audience is able to relate and hopefully consider choices that can lead them to the right path to a more successful future.