Majority of the youth in the 21st century have misinterpreted the expensive facts and are on the verge of ruining their character formation. Youths have invested the lion share of their lives in substance abuse which has led to unrest in their immediate community and economic downfall.
More often task forces have been deployed to dig deeper into the brackets of what is said to be school unrest and its root cause. The majority of these task forces have pointed fingers at substance abuse as the main trigger. School administrators being aware of the drug abuse among their peers should take the matter into serious consideration and devise different strategies to hand this perennial problem among the youths.
In the recent past students found possessing abusive substances; have received consequential suspensions and expulsion from their learning institutions affecting their academic excellence. Over years this punishment has turned out ineffective. Furthermore, it has been worsening the situation to the extent of students’ demonstrations and rampage in the affected schools.
The good news is the government of Kenya has taken hold of the matter in giving the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Authority Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) full support to curb alcohol and substance abuse in many ways. For instance, the government has managed to come up with basic education institutions to enlighten its citizens about the effect of substance abuse on the economy and one’s personal life.
On 18th June 2018, a comprehensive survey was carried out on the status of drug and substance abuse which reviled that tobacco, prescription drugs and alcohol are the main drugs which the young generation is exposed to in their day to day life across the world. The survey covered a sample of 3,307 pupils from 177 primary schools from cross five to class eight in twenty-five counties. After being inquisitive on most of the pupils, 30% sited that they access the drugs during school holidays, 22% said on their way to or from school, 21% during weekends and 20% during inter-school competitions.
Not leaving that aside, other NACADA surveys proofed that majority of the schools lack a comprehensive policy on alcohol and substance use consequently their approach should largely include sensitization programs in the institution. Further, it was established that schools manage drug incidences through suspending or expelling culprits, summoning parents/guardians that seem not to have a positive impact on the affected pupils.
From the surveys conducted by NACADA and findings the following new rules were suggested to curb drug abuse in schools:
- Students to be exposed to continuous guidance and counselling programs.
- Once drug abuse incidences are discovered in the school premises, teachers should minimize or abort lecturing to the school hence providing knowledge about them to innocent pupils.
- Teachers are also advised to use scare tactics through presenting frightening life experiences and personal stories to exaggerate and misrepresent the dangers of drug abuse that contradicts the pupils’ and peers’ own experiences.
- Treating culprits with compassion without discrimination.
- Providing support programs to learners.
The NACADA and Ministry of education new guidelines will help to effectively respond to the issues related to drug and substances abuse in schools today. These new guidelines will create a friendly and conducive environment for academic regalia progress.
The education institutions are urged to use the guidelines and apply them within the school premises and during school events to curb use of drugs among learners and youths.
