Save our children from drugs
Introduction:
Drug and
alcohol abuse are important problems that affect school-age youth at earlier
ages than in the past. Young people frequently begin to experiment with
alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs during the middle school years, with a
smaller number starting during elementary school. By the time students are in
high school, rates of substance use are remarkably high. According to national
survey data, about one in three twelfth graders reports being drunk or binge drinking
(i.e., five or more drinks in a row) in the past thirty days; furthermore,
almost half of high school students report ever using marijuana and more than
one-fourth report using marijuana in the past thirty days. Marijuana is the
most commonly used illicit drug among high school students. However, use of the
drug ecstasy (MDMA) has seen a sharp increase among American teenagers at the
end of the twentieth century, from 6 percent in 1996 up to 11 percent reporting
having tried ecstasy in 2000. Indeed, at the beginning of the twenty-first
century, ecstasy was used by more American teenagers than cocaine.
Many educators
recognize that drug and alcohol abuse among students are significant barriers
to the achievement of educational objectives. Furthermore, federal and state
agencies and local school districts frequently mandate that schools provide
health education classes to students, including content on drug and alcohol
abuse. The Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program is a comprehensive federal
initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education, which is designed to
strengthen programs that prevent the use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and
violence in and around the nation's schools. In order to receive federal
funding under this program, school districts are expected to develop a
comprehensive education and prevention plan, which involves students, teachers,
parents, and other members of the community. Thus it is clear that schools have
become the major focus of drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention
activities for youth. This makes sense from a practical standpoint because
schools offer efficient access to large numbers of youth during the years that
they typically begin to use drugs and alcohol.
Since the 1970s
several approaches to drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention have been
implemented in school settings. Traditionally, drug and alcohol abuse education
has involved the dissemination of information on drug abuse and the negative
health, social, and legal consequences of abuse. Contemporary approaches
include social resistance and competence-enhancement programs, which focus less
on didactic instruction and more on interactive-skills training techniques. The
most promising contemporary approaches are conceptualized within a theoretical framework
based on the etiology of drug abuse and have been subjected to empirical
testing using appropriate research methods. Contemporary programs are typically
categorized into one of three types: (1) universal programs
focus on the general population, such as all students in a particular school;
(2) selective programs target high-risk groups, such as poor
school achievers; and (3) indicated programs are designed for
youth already experimenting with drugs or engaging in other high-risk
behaviors.
There are
several reasons why drug usage soon gets changed to drug abuse. At a very basic
level this happens because the person concerned feels a
desperate need to deal with stress, to get a momentary high or to
just ‘fit in’ with his or her peers, as happens in the case of youngsters. It
soon reaches a stage where this need becomes much more than other needs in life
and the person begins to believe their survival depends on those drugs.
One of the
major reasons for drug abuse – and this is specially applicable for youngsters
doing drugs – is its presence, and at times glorification, in popular media
such as television series and films. Quite often it so happens that doing drugs
is romanticized and some fictional positive aspects of the same are shown. Thus
it becomes a thrilling and seductive affair for youngsters who can be misguided
easily because of their relative lack of experience in life. At times, the
knowledge of risk factors related to drug abuse can also lure people into
using these harmful substances. In certain instances people gain this knowledge
from their own families or immediate surroundings and are obviously driven –
due to some reason or the other – to give it a try and before they know it, it
becomes an addiction.
Effects of drug abuse
The most major impact
of drug abuse is on the brain, which consequentially affects every other aspect
of life of the person addicted to drugs. Drugs are primarily chemicals
that affect the communication system of the human brain. They disturb the ways
in which nerve cells send, process and receive information. There are a couple
of ways in which drugs achieve this – they copy the natural chemical messengers
of the human brain and they overstimulate the brain’s reward circuit. Drugs
such as heroin and marijuana are structured in the same way as chemical
messengers known as neurotransmitters.
The human brain
produces these neurotransmitters naturally. As a result of this similarity, the
drugs can fool the receptors of human brain and activate the nerve
cells in such a way that they send some abnormal messages. In case of drugs
like methamphetamine and cocaine, the nerve cells get activated and they
release extraordinarily large volumes of neurotransmitters. They are also
capable of preventing the brain from recycling these chemicals in a normal
manner. A normal level of production is necessary in order to end the
signal between neurons.
This disruption
leads to a message that is highly amplified and this in turn disrupts the
normal ways in which the brain communicates. Almost all the drugs use dopamine
in order to target the reward system of the brain. Dopamine can be defined as a
neurotransmitter that can be found in the areas of brain that control phenomena
such as movement, motivation, emotion and various feelings such as pleasure. A
most famous example of eating disorder owing to drug abuse is that of Diego
Maradona, who had gained weight before the 1994 World Cup because of his drug
abuse. He was weighing in the region of 94 kilos but soon reduced it to 77
kilos through hard work and determination and played an important role in the
team’s qualification for the tournament proper.
Drug
abuse manifests itself in euphoric behaviour by the user – and at most
times unnaturally so. This leads to a sequence where the users keep on
repeating the same action of drug abuse. When this pattern continues the brain
tries to adapt to the usage by reducing its own dopamine production as well as
dopamine receptors. The user tries to adapt to this through drug abuse so that
his or her dopamine production level can be brought back to a level that seems
normal to him or her.
Solution to drug
abuse
Prevention is
one of the ways in which drug abuse can be dealt with. In fact it is one
affliction that can be easily prevented according to medical experts and
practitioners. Prevention programmes involving entities such as families,
schools and the immediate communities are important in this regard. Media –
especially the entertainment segment – also needs to understand its role in
this context and play a positive role by resisting the urge to earn millions by
romanticizing and glorifying drug abuse. It needs to highlight the
damning consequences of drug abuse. It is important that the youth are
made to feel that drug usage itself is harmful in every conceivable way and
only then will they stop using them and prevent others in their peer group from
doing the same.
Sustained
treatment is the only option for people who have already gone down the
road of drug abuse and are highly into it. The treatment for a drug abuser
normally depends on the kind of drug that the person has been using. It is said
that the best treatments normally emphasize on phenomena related to the
individual’s life. This includes areas such as medical, psychological and work-related
needs as well as issues in relationships with other people in the
person’s life. The treatment sessions combine medication and behavioural
therapy so that the victim of drug abuse gradually stops feeling the
urge to do drugs. These treatment programmes also impart the skills and
capability required in order to say no to drugs in the future, which is
highly critical for a complete cure to drug abuse.
Conclusion:
Globally, 90% of street
children use some form of narcotics ( (WHO data). With a clear link between
street children and drug use, simple rehabilitation of addicts is not the
answer. The cruel environment of street life, which robs childhoods and
replaces it with addiction, exploitation and violence must be changed to an
ecosystem of support. For children to be led back to schools, they must be
reassured of nutrition, comfort, and a future. Instead of working any menial
job to support a drug habit, these children must be motivated to work for their
own futures, in schools, remedial facilities and skills based centres.
Reference
Save the
Children India | How drug addiction is becoming a part of the lives of children
on streets and in child carewww.savethechildren.in
Drug Abuse In
India: Causes, Effects & Solutions | My Indiawww.mapsofindia.com
Drug and
Alcohol Abuse - SCHOOL, COLLEGE - Students, Social, Programs, and Substance -
StateUniversity.comeducation.stateuniversity.com
