Editorial: Reach out to drug abusers in schools

In this week’s Big Story, we feature the dilemma of Drug Abuse among students. It is one of those phenomena that normally tends to bubble under the surface of the school system, away from the hawk-like eyes of parents and teachers, and yet it has the potential to wreck the abuser’s future completely if left unchecked. For many parents, their worst nightmare would be to wake up to the news that a child of theirs was abusing or, worse still, addicted to drugs. Many students, on the other hand, tend to be more liberal where drug use and abuse is concerned, especially as they see (or hear of) a big number of their peers using them freely. Unfortunately, in most schools the drug abusers are admired as ‘cool’ and ‘trendy’ by their fellows because they are perceived as rebels against authority. But what they really are is troubled kids that need help. A habit that starts as a one-off- just a puff, just a hit will grow gradually if left unchecked until it consumes its victim like a monster. Find out in our lead feature what exactly drug abuse is, the reasons that may cause a child to abuse, how you can spot an abuser, and what can be done to rescue them from this deadly habit. School authorities and parents need to be on the lookout for drug abusing children and to try to be understanding in their approach to helping them. This is because more often than not children do not abuse out of malice, but start off by thinking they are merely having harmless fun, only to find themselves enslaved by the habit. Alternatively, they might have deeper psychological issues that drive them to drugs. In either case, what they need is love and care, not judgement and censure.