Schools must educate children on the dangers of drug abuse
Best solution is to reach young people before they start experimenting
One of the gravest threats to SA society is the use of drugs by schoolchildren and young people.
With the youth expected to be leaders of tomorrow, the future looks uncertain with the rate of drug addiction among them seemingly not subsiding. The pervasiveness of drug abuse is such that it would be hard to find a family without at least one addict, especially in black society. Homes are no longer safe havens with the threat posed by relatives to feed their habits, resorting to stealing home appliances and other commodities.
Some homes are stripped of essential items as the addicts satisfy their cravings. In extreme circumstances, addicts have even gone to the extent of killing their relatives just to support their lethal habit. Homes have been destroyed, with relatives disowning each other and cutting ties.
At the heart of some of these situations is the noninvolvement of parents in their children’s activities. This may be due to work or plain negligence which will lead to a lack of awareness of the dangers their children might be exposed to.
At school level, pupils who abuse drugs have been shown to have lower grades, higher rates of absenteeism with an increased potential for dropping out of school. The consequences of dropping out include the likely involvement in criminal activity and the possibility of ending up in prison.
Psychologically, the use of drugs impairs the functioning of the brain. They interfere with the normal traffic patterns that neurotransmitters use. Messages are sent in the wrong direction and affects how the brain acts or reacts. Users then become susceptible to mental health challenges as their capacities to think, learn, remember, focus and concentrate, are severely hampered. Ultimately, substance abuse can lead to young people losing meaning for life and opting to commit suicide. Substance abuse and educational achievement are incompatible because it undermines mental health and destroys futures. The question is, what can schools do to mitigate the drug problem bedeviling our society? Education alone cannot exercise an unlimited impact in the fight against drug abuse. The influence of media, advertising, music, and peer pressure should also be mediated. This is a societal problem that requires a multi-sectoral intervention strategy.
What schools can do is to provide positive experiences that can serve as buffers to drug use. Drug education must be incorporated into the curriculum with pupils encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities at the school. Schools should strive to exercise a socialising influence on the pupils and to foster a sense of belonging in them. Teachers should endeavour to be positive role models to make it easier for them to inculcate the desired values of a drug-free society.
Drug education should aim to empower pupils with knowledge about the impact of drugs which should be a key prevention strategy. It should focus on imparting values, skills and attitudes that will influence pupils to make healthy decisions and steer them away from harmful influences.
These programmes should be age-appropriate for the pupils with the teacher expected to possess the necessary expertise. Pupils should be given facts about drugs to counteract external myths and distortions.
What should also be avoided is the use of language that seeks to stigmatise drug users. For example, words such as “nyaope” to refer to the users of this substance should be avoided as it may repel pupils who may be shamed or withdraw from asking for support.
Drug education may raise awareness of community needs such as the lack of recreational facilities.
Other needs might include health facilities such as rehabilitation centres to help the youth to access professional counselling and treatment for their addiction.
According to Drug Free World, a nonprofit organisation focused on elimination of drug and alcohol abuse and its resulting criminality, “The best solution is to reach young people with effective fact-based drug education before they start experimenting with drugs. Teenagers and young adults who know the facts about drugs are much less likely to start using them.”
To this end, schools can nip the problem in the bud by teaching pupils about the dangers of drugs from an early age and exposing them to preventative alternatives.