The ManicaPost
Shelton Mwanyisa
Emerging Issues in Education
NO amount of words can be adequate to explain the pain of losing a child, it is even more disturbing when the cause of the death is linked to drug abuse.
One of our schools has since lost two students suspected to be victims of drug abuse.
A series of questions raced through my mind as I shared a discussion on the effects of drug abuse on learners with a veteran educationist, Mr Mcdonald Muusha.
Mr Muusha concluded our talk by putting me to task, “Iwe shamwari please write something about drug abuse, zvanyanya!”
Where are schools and the society getting it wrong?
Are schools safe environments for teachers and learners anymore?
Even though attention to drug abuse has been given and reported, the problem continues to disrupt the school system, the society and child development.
Welcome to the column Emerging Issues in Education, this week we are focusing on factors giving rise to drug abuse in schools.
Armed with the causes of drug abuse the school and society can work together in arresting the spread.
What is drug abuse?
Drug abuse relates to any conscious and unconscious actions targeted at illegal use of drugs causing physical, social, and emotional disturbances to one’s normal functioning.
Some drugs are available on prescription, over the counter while others are sold on the streets.
Drugs can be classified according to the effect they have on abusers.
Some are stimulants, others hallucinogens and depressants.
Examples of drugs abused by adolescence include mbanje, beer and cigarettes, among others.
Drug abuse cannot be attributed to a single cause as these are multifaceted.
The causes include one’s social background, peer pressure, boredom, experimentation and globalisation.
Factors contributing to drug abuse
Freedom and authority
I am a proponent of addressing emerging issues in education with the sole purpose of improving the quality of education.
Adversaries of corporal punishment disregarded the use of corporal punishment in schools owing to the negative effects of the practice on the students.
But following the death of the two students mentioned earlier due to suspected drug abuse, some now believe that the banning of corporal punishment in schools is contributing to the rise of drug abuse cases amongst students.
A seasoned teacher, Mr Makuwaza remarked, “Ana ngaanerwe, isusu tainerwa wani.”
He, together with several others, believe that too much freedom has been given to the learners, thereby reducing teachers to mere spectators as learners do what they wish.
While the issue of punishment in schools is controversial, do schools have a functional alternative that matches the sophisticated nature of indiscipline in schools, including drug abuse and sexual offences?
Peer pressure
A peer group is a social group whose members have interests, social positions and age in common.
It is this group that is distributing drugs to our children but from a “source.”
Drugs can be introduced to students by peers who are linked to a source.
Peer pressure is therefore associated with drug abuse by students, especially when they team up at school in sport competitions and parties.
According to the Cultural Transmission Theory or Differential Association Theory, drug abuse is learned through “transmission,” that is social interactions with other drug abusers.
All behaviour is learned, therefore drug abuse is also learned.
It is very difficult for students to resist peer pressure given that peers can administer punishment through social exclusion.
Peers provide a sense of belonging, which is considered very important, particularly to adolescence who are constantly criticized by teachers and parents.
Community school relations
Furthermore, drug abuse is caused by community and school relations that are unhealthy.
The community exposes the learners to various types of drugs that are then smuggled into the school.
According to the Social Control Theory, drug abuse is the outcome of a failure of social bonds and social control systems.
If social controls get internalised, people are less likely to engage in drug abuse.
It is very difficult for the school to deal with drug abuse in a community where drug abuse is becoming widespread.
Globalisation
The world has become more and more interconnected so that time and space has been compressed.
In essence, the world has become a village as a result of advancements in technology.
The transportation of drugs has equally been made faster and more sophisticated.
Mass media and the internet are essential but also in a way are promoting drug trafficking.
Several times the learners are found with cellphones loaded with music that identifies and glorifies use of drugs.
The use of ICT in the teaching and learning processes is essential but needs monitoring, be it at school or home, as it can be linked to anti-social behaviour, including the use of drugs.
Adolescence
Adolescence has been argued to be a period of conflict, storm and stress as a result of the impact of the biological, physical and cognitive changes experienced by the adolescents.
Some adolescents engaged in drug abuse because of the pressures they experienced as the changes occurred.
At times schools can be boring if learners are not constantly occupied.
Soon after end of term examinations, teachers practically disengage learners.
Students only come to school to be marked present in the register with no meaningful attention given to them as teachers will be concentrating on marking and compiling reports.
An idle mind is a devil’s workshop so says an old proverb.
A boring school environment can easily lead adolescents to find ways of occupying themselves.
Some engage in drugs because they want to know how it feels like to smoke marijuana and get “high”.
To some they think it is “cool” to be engaged in marijuana smoking.
Therefore, drug abuse can also be done on an experimental basis, until the drug abuser gets hooked.
Home background
The home and the school are interconnected as changes in one area affects the other.
Children who witness drug abuse in the home are more likely to be victims of drug abuse, and children whose families use drugs are likely to introduce them to the peers.
Research also shows that abused children can be victims of drug abuse and related anti-social behaviours.
The primary socialisation that children receive is a determinant to the choices they make as they grow up. The home is the foundation of child development and continues to play this role, even in adult life.
The behaviour of students at school is therefore influenced by the home background.
An African child will always remain a child, even in old age.
In our next article, we focus on the effects of drug abuse on the teaching and learning processes.
