Drug abuse is defined as the continuous, excessive or maladaptive use of both illegal and legal drugs which have adverse psychological, physical or even social effects.
Causes of abuse include accessibility, environmental aspects, social, genetic, curiosity, and lack of social support.
Drugs are classified explicitly according to how they affect our bodies. We have depressants. These are a class of drugs that slow down the performance of the Central Nervous system.
There’s yet another one called hallucinogens. These affect the senses and completely change how one sees, hears, tastes, smells or feels.
The third type of drug is called stimulants, which accelerate the functions of the Central Nervous system.
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Schools have become hot spots for illegal drug peddling and consumption, as statistics indicate that at least 22 per cent of high school students consume or handle drugs.
Just like any other market, some schools act as a place where businesses of that nature can thrive greatly.
Some people use learners as their agents to carry out business transactions in return for a periodical stipend.
Some staff members are shameless to be the mediums of destruction of generations and are indeed conduits for the infiltration of such drugs in school.
The most common sources of drugs delivered to educational institutions are as follows: kiosks or shops located near schools account for 28.6 percent; bars in proximity to schools account for 25.7 percent; friends contribute 19.3 percent; school workers make up 13.6 percent; and other students account for 13.7 percent.
It’s so sad to underscore that 22 per cent of illegal drugs find a ready market, specifically in our learning institutions.
School managers and teachers have an obligation to observe the weird behaviour of all the learners and put in place necessary interventions to control drug abuse in schools.
There are so many indiscipline cases in our schools in which learners find themselves unconsciously because of drug use.
Drug use in learning institutions spreads like wildfire. If the administration is not so keen, it will be a surprise to realize much queer behaviour among the learners.
This will undoubtedly be very unfortunate.
Guidance and counselling department
The guidance and counselling department should not be taken for granted as it has always been; it must be expeditiously empowered to address all the traces of unbecoming conduct in our learning institutions.
We should all realize that teachers have difficulty controlling and containing learners in our learning institutions.
Unfortunately, teachers have abdicated responsibility for most unnatural behaviours that learners exhibit and leave it to the principal, Deputy Principal, and counselling department.
This has made it increasingly difficult for administrators to identify and resolve drug-related cases in our learning institutions.
Most teachers only resort to suspension and frustration and even propose expelling learners instead of first engaging with them exhaustively.
Teachers have to cultivate trust between themselves and their learners so that they can mitigate drug abuse in learning institutions.
Additionally, the teachers must empower the counselling department by engaging peer counsellors, who would furnish them with timely information on drug use.
Teachers and learners should understand that all of them are at risk in case drugs infiltrate the learning institutions because the drug users may make very uninformed decisions and come to regret them later, which could include setting hostels on fire, waylaying teachers, or even displaying very unfriendly behaviour in the learning institutions.
By Hillary Muhalya
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