Amy Koczera: Strategic Writer & Storyteller

Author: Amy Koczera

  • Recovering addict speaks out about $8.3 billion Purdue Pharma settlement

    Recovering addict speaks out about $8.3 billion Purdue Pharma settlement

    LUBBOCK, Texas — On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced they had reached a settlement with Purdue Pharma for $8.3 billion in penalties.

    The company, known for creating the highly addictive drug Oxycontin, among others, is known for perpetuating the current opioid epidemic, which has led to over 400,000 deaths in America over the past two decades.

    However, considering Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy last month, this amount is largely symbolic. It is unlikely company executives will pay the full amount. In a news conference with several national leaders this week, many said the penalty is not enough.

    “Justice was not served for the families who have lost loved ones and who’ve experienced such devastation,” said Maura Healey, Massachusetts Attorney General. “No one’s going to jail. No one’s going to prison. And worse yet, they’ve set up a situation where Purdue is going to be able to continue on.”

    Melissa Silva is the program director at Stages of Recovery and a recovering addict herself. She’s just one of the thousands that have been impacted by the opioid epidemic. Silva said the settlement would never be enough to make up for the lives lost.

    “I don’t ever think it’s going to be an adequate amount,” said Silva. “I mean, there are people who lost their lives. Some people are still feeling the effects of oxycontin, I don’t think there will ever be a sufficient amount of money that will ever give people their lives back.”

    Read the full article published on everythinglubbock.com on October 22, 2020.

  • Nearly 95% of Lubbock teens placed in foster homes outside the county

    Nearly 95% of Lubbock teens placed in foster homes outside the county

    LUBBOCK, Texas — Some experts said Lubbock is known to not have enough available foster homes for the number of kids in foster care. As those kids become teenagers, the experts said, it becomes even more difficult for them to find foster homes.

    On Tuesday, Texas Family Initiative said there are 54 teenagers in foster care in Lubbock – and only 3 are placed inside the county. That means all others – nearly 95 percent – have to make a long drive or even take a flight in order to visit their biological families.

    “Most of them will tell you, ‘I used to take care of my siblings, and now you are taking care of me,’” said foster parent Corinna Bryant.

    Mrs. Bryant and her husband David are in their tenth year of being a foster parents. They live in Denver City — a small town over an hour away from Lubbock.

    Read the full article on everythinglubbock.com, published September 29, 2020.

  • Social Media and Female Adolescents: Influence of the Thin Ideal on Eating Disorder Development

    Social Media and Female Adolescents: Influence of the Thin Ideal on Eating Disorder Development

    Recognized as an example of outstanding academic research and writing, this paper received the Suffolk University, Excellence in Honors Award in May, 2020.

    Abstract

    The thin ideal has been integrated into Western culture through advertisements, film and television, and most notably social media since the mid-twentieth century. As the number of
    adolescent females who use social media has increased over the past decade, thin ideal internalization has emerged and eating disorder development has increased as a result of this
    exposure. Adolescent females, being at a crucial state of both physiological and psychological development, are at risk for developing eating disorders based on thin ideal internalization
    propagated by these platforms.

    In an exemplary literature review, this paper uses research from content analyses, surveys, and health statistics to identify how thin ideal internalization among predominantly Western adolescent females has led to the development of eating disorder symptoms due to their significant consumption of social media. Due to its highly accessible and potentially secretive nature, social media has played a notable role in the development and rise of eating disorders in adolescent females and has enabled pro-eating disorder communities to develop through use of hashtags and search engine optimization.

    This research demonstrates that in order to reduce eating disorder development and body dissatisfaction from thin ideal and pro-eating disorder content on these platforms, social media
    sites need to have better systems in place to prevent the dissemination of this potentially harmful material.

    Furthermore, this research also argues that the current generation of adolescents who have grown up on social media, known as the “digital generation,” must be digitally literate in order to safely navigate social media during such a crucial, developmental stage in their cognitive development. It is the role of parents, health educators, and social media sites to ensure adolescents understand how to safely navigate mediated content from a digitally literate perspective.

    Read the entire paper below, shared on May 6, 2020.

    AmyKoczera_Thesis_May2020 (1)Download