Contemporary Society

There are many contemporary social concerns in the world today. Information on these concerns can be found just about anywhere including the Internet, T.V. and even articles. A critical thinker has a responsibility to find out information on the topic that is correct, true, has validity and limited to no biases. One contemporary issue that is going on is the issue with the addiction to crystal meth. A critical thinker needs to be able to understand the validity and truth behind a writers work, understand the importance of ethics and moral reasoning, and understand the advantages of informational technology.
Any critical thinker can understand how crystal meth addiction is impacting the contemporary world today. Crystal meth is a very addictive drug and has many side effects to the brain and to the body. In order for a critical thinker to find reliable resources, he or she must research many areas of a writer’s paper.
One way that a person can understand if a an article, website, etc. is a reliable source is to conduct research on the resources that writer four his or her information. All resources need to be creditable and those in turn have to credit where the information came from. This information needs to be written by someone who is an expert in the field at hand. In this case the topic is crystal meth addiction. An expert should have no issue with peer-reviewed.

A reference should also be peer-reviewed. When a source is peer-reviewed it has been reviewed and passed by a board that works in the author’s field of study. This can lead to sources being published allowing others to view information that is correct. It can also create an issue in having some articles rejected if the peer-reviewers do not agree with the information that is being printed. An example of information that can be rejected is bias information.
A critical thinker needs to be careful to understand when he or she is coming across bias. Bias is when the writer is defending one side over the other is facts. When a research paper is written, it needs to cover all sides of the issue at hand. A research paper on crystal meth addiction would be bias if it only described how poor, homeless people become addicted to crystal meth. A critical thinker should be able to understand how this is bias and not true. A critical thinker should be able to understand that people from all walks of life could and can become addicted to crystal meth. Along with a critical thinker understanding bias in a resource, he or she must also understand validity.
In order for a critical thinker to hold full responsibility for a resource, he or she must look into the validity of a resource. Validity revolves around the logic and truth behind information. A resource must contain both truth and logic. The truth is what a research paper is all about. Information must be true and contain information that can be backed up by research and education. An topic of addiction to crystal meth is a very big social concern that people should be educated on. This information must come from studies, research, and information that have been provided by researchers who have studied the field and have done a number of tests. When looking into the facts about crystal meth addiction, a critical thinker must be able to understand what is the truth and what is not.
Many articles about crystal meth addiction have stats and percentages. A critical thinker must be able to look at the stats and percentages and understand where the resource is getting the information. There may come times when the percentages are off based on where the information has come from. A critical thinker should be able to understand that if an article states that there are a zero percentage of people addicted to crystal meth, this is not the truth and this information should not be looked into. This also contains the fact of how factual the information really is.
Fact is a very big part of understanding literature review. When a critical thinker is looking at literature, he or she needs the information to be true and to have fact behind every word. If an article is published with fake information, this can lead to the critical thinker having misinformation and understanding the topic of addiction to crystal meth in the wrong way. Every piece of literature that a critical thinker reads must have great resources, peer-reviewed information, contain no bias, and have validity to back it up in order to get the correct and right information.
When looking into a piece of literature, a critical thinker should looking into the resources, peer-viewed, bias, and validity of the information at hand. This will allow the critical thinker to get the best information for his or her information on a topic such as the addiction to crystal meth. Finding these four main points in a piece of literature will help keep information as reliable as possible on a contemporary issue.
Researching the addiction to crystal meth will result in a major number of findings. It is the responsibility of a critical thinker to understand the findings of each piece of literature he or she looks into. The first thing to look into is the information about crystal meth addiction. The site that has been published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse is full of information about what crystal meth (methamphetamine) is, what it does to a person, the statistics and trends, how it is abused and must more. In order to make sure this site is going to be useful, a contemporary thinker must look into the sources, bias, and validity of the literature and when the last time it was updated.
This website has a section that deals with the research resources. This is a good place to start in order to make sure the information is going to meet the criteria. The research resource includes a list of genetics research resources, data harmonization projects, and justice system resources. This information will provide where the information on the site has come from and who can back it up in order to make sure it is valid information. Here a critical thinking can see whom the NIH (National Institute on Drug Abuse) teamed up with in order to get the findings and information they have published. These researchers can be looked into and followed up with in order to make sure that the NIH is using true and real information on the topic of crystal meth addiction.
The information found on the research resources will also let the person know that this information has been peer-viewed by all of the researchers involved in the findings. The next part that a critical thinker needs to look into is if there is any bias information in the literature. Bias information is information that is leading more towards one side.
Reading the information that the National Institute on Drug Abuse has written it is easy to see that the information is not bias and deals with the facts of crystal meth addiction. There is information on how the drug is used. The NIH states “methamphetamine [crystal meth] is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol and is taken orally, intranasally (snorting the powder), by needle injection, or by smoking (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010, para 2). There is nothing that is bias about the information found on this website. The literature is informational and very valid.
The validity of the information is very present. After reading through all of the resources and researchers involved, a critical thinker can understand that the information at hand is valid. This website has information that is both logical and factual present throughout all of the information that it provides. The same steps can be applied to another article about crystal meth.
Sherry Mumford wrote an article called Putting meth addiction in context. This article should be researched to make sure it follows the same guidelines as the first literature information. The article revolves around Chilliwack, B.C. and the crystal meth addiction that can be found there. Sherry Mumford wrote the article and was published by Torstar Syndication Services, a Division of Toronto Star Newspapers, LLC. This LLC peer-viewed the article and found that the information was valid and decided to publish it.
A critical thinker could argue that the article has some bias parts in it. The article states that “[Meth] is not an epidemic. It’s a drug trend and it’s problematic. It came on fairly quickly but it will go away” (Mumford, 2004, para 6). This information is leading more towards saying that crystal meth is not addiction and is more of just a trend that is going around. This does not give the allusion that crystal meth is addictive and some people have trouble getting off the drug. This could also be considered in the validity of the article.
The validity of an article is very important. The article contains some number on how many people are seeking help in the area. The article states “a total of 1,200 young people sought help from Fraser Health addictions services in 2003-04, and for adult clients the total was 5,500 in that same period” (Mumford, 2004, para 14). This information is very valid and the overall validity of the article is good.
Another way to make sure that a piece of literature checks out is to see when the last time it was updated. An article called Straight faces about meth addiction was published in 2005 by Torstar Syndication Services, A Division of Toronto Star Newspaper, LLC. This article was peer-viewed by the publication company. The article also has a side bar stating the it was late updated in 2010. This left five years for new information to be found and changed if any information was not the same or not correct. This can be a real help to a critical thinker when making sure the information is right. The information also needs to contain no bias.
The article deals with information on how to try and stop the crystal meth addiction. This article is not bias in anyway. The article is trying to help parents understand that even if it seems tough, there can be help for a son or daughter to get out of the addiction. The article does not state that is not help, which would lead to bias information. Stating that there is no help for anyone who becomes addicted to crystal meth would lead to a bias view. Knowledge of resources will help a critical thinker understand the truth and validity behind literature.
Knowledge not only helps a critical thinker understand the truth and validity behind literature but it can also help with the impact of social elements on both local and global communities. The knowledge that a person gains through social and institution elements can really have an impact on both local communities and global communities.
Academic knowledge can impact local communities from a social element on the topic of crystal meth addiction. People are taught that addiction is real and can effect so many people. It is important for people to understand that addiction can be found locally and education can help with the issue. When it comes to addiction, the more educated a person is, the better the understanding that person will have on the topic and how go about the issue.
The Internet is a big way for people to gain academic knowledge on information that is going on locally and globally. This information can help a person see the underling issues that come with crystal meth addiction. Academic knowledge can help people understand the truth in small communities and even across the world. Academic knowledge can be anything from what a person learns in school to what is taught to us by others such as a co-worker who was educated in crystal meth addiction.
Academic knowledge can have a big impact on local communities. Understanding the truth behind crystal meth addiction can really help a community understand the issue. An article written by Goble and Battershill talks about how the leaders of a town decided to educate the town on crystal meth. A man by the name of Ramsey held a movie screening at the local high
school. Ramsey stated that the forum “will include a screening of a disturbing eighteen minute film” (Goble and Battershill, 2005, para 17). This information will help to inform the local community and help keep them educated on the topic of addiction.
Being educated is the best way to try and find a resolution to any issue in a community. The communities need to know that some side effects of a crystal meth user are “extreme paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations and severe cognitive impairment” (Lecomte, 2005, para 3). This can help others to understand what they need to look for in a person who is addicted to any type of drug, not just crystal meth. A person can then use their knowledge to understand that drugs mess with the brain and body.
Academic knowledge can also help a critical thinker understand that an environment can have a lot to do with a person who is venerable to addiction. Through academic knowledge we learn that there are different environments, which can lead to different outcomes of how someone is raise, different types of cultures, and different subdivisions. An article by Matt Hartley talks about how some areas in the world can lead to a higher change of a person becoming addicted to drugs. Matt Hartley states “It’s hard enough to positively conduct treatment in you own community, [but] sending the kids far away, especially to a larger city where they’re going to run into a lot more troubled youth, is tricky” (Hartley, 2006, para. 9). This leads to the issue of the global community academic education can have an impact on.
It is very important for a any person to know what is going on around the glob. A person can apply academic education to a global matter. The education a person has to apply to a local community can also be applied to a global community. If using environment as an example, the same different types of environments in a community can also be found around the world. Education does not only have to be academic. Education and information can be taught at a young age from anywhere.
A survey back in 2009 came back with the results that “one out of every five students who filled out the survey from after an anti-drug group’s presentation said they know of someone using crystal meth” (Ryan, 2009, Infomart). Kids all across the globe need to be educated on this topic and understand the issues that come along with the addiction to not only crystal meth, but also any drug for that matter. Education is everywhere. Active citizenship in this matter and education could really help with the percentage of addicts in a community and around the globe.
Active citizenship could impact the issue of the addiction to crystal meth in the next five to ten years. The active citizenship has already started to help with getting the numbers of people addicted to crystal meth down. The National Institute of Drug Abuse has reported that the use of crystal meth in teens has started to drop of the recent years. The site suggests that this is because of all of the attention being brought to the subject. If this continues of the next five to ten years, there could be a very low rate at the end. The next five to ten years could show a very big difference in what we see today.
Using education, the next five to ten years could show an great drop in the amount of users of crystal meth. There are many different types of educational tools out there besides academic. People can also become educated with the World Wide Web, multimedia (blogs, videos, radio), television. Education has already started to bring down the number of kids doing crystal meth. According to Geoffrey Laredo there has already been a “significant decrease in methamphetamine abuse” (Laredo, 2004, para 1). Education has helped with this.
Education keeps growing and so does technology. Technology in the next five to ten years is going to be a great impact with how education works today. Today people can find information on any topic on the Internet. Giving technology five to ten years is going to help education further and help so many more people with the information of addiction to crystal meth.
There are so many blogs and videos out there that help people understand why not to do drugs and what the side effects are. Videos, blogs, and prodcasts are a way for people to communicate with each other or even gain information on a topic like crystal meth addiction. When it comes to videos, blogs, and prodcasts; a critical thinker has to be careful about the information that is being provided. These types of multimedia can contain lots of bias and very little validity.
There are many blogs out there about addiction. A blog is a personal webpage or website that allows that person to write opinions, stories, personal information, and also allows for others to comment on this information. There are many blogs about addiction that are full of information about recovery, the struggles, and what each person went through personally as a addict or as a family or friend of an addict.
The blog called An Addict In Our Son’s Bedroom is a blog for parents dealing with an addict child. This blog allows for the main “Mom and Dad” to communicate with others and for others to reach out to them. The blog does not seem to have very many resources and can come across as bias in some cases. The information in this blog is valid based on the fact that it is coming from real life stories.
A critical thinker can apply academic knowledge to this blog and understand the validity of the issues and the fact that some parts may come across as bias. A critical thinker can also understand how some of the information is not true nor meets the qualifications of a peer-viewed article. The information on the blog is very relevant to the issue at hand: Addiction to crystal meth.
This blog has many stories of what a family member of a user is going through. It also tells stories of how the people reach out to others and even talks to school students about the issues with addiction and what addiction can do to a person. There is so much personal information that
statistics and numbers will not give someone. The validity and truth behind a blog is much different than the type of truth a validity one would get from an article backed up by many sources.
Academic knowledge can help a person understand contemporary social concerns and how to apply the principles of active citizenship to those issues. A critical thinker needs to be able to know what information is good and what information is questionable. A critical thinker needs to be able to understand the validity, bias, and important of peer-viewed resource and the importance of technology gathering data when dealing with any type of concern. This will help a critical thinker gain information that is correct, valid, and usable in the real world.