PSY-442 Drug Abuse & Resilience

This essay examines drug abuse among secondary school students in Kenya, focusing on the causes (stress, psychological changes, family issues) and effects (poor performance, aggression). It highlights the need for resilience-building strategies, involving parents, teachers, and community support programs like D.A.R.E. The essay emphasizes the importance of professional guidance, open communication, and integrating drug abuse education into school curricula. It concludes by recommending collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) to address this critical issue.

Drug Abuse and Resilience
Drug Abuse and Its Resilience
Rabiatu S. Alowonle
PSY-442/ Prof. Pamela J. Edwards, M.A.
01/28/2017
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Drug Abuse and Resilience
Summary
The selected article (Ngesu, L. M., & Njeru, A. N., 2014) deals with the drug addiction in the
secondary school students in Dagoretti Division, Nairobi West district-Kenya. According to the
paper, the drug has a different definition of different people. The drug is a substance which alters
the functions of an organism taking it. Drug intake can be considered legal or illegal depending
upon its medical or non-medical use. The substance which affects the person psychologically or
physiologically and contributes risk to the health is known as drug abuse. Drug abuse has been
seen to ruin our youth and their education. The study was conducted in secondary schools in
Dagoretti Division, Nairobi to find out the reason what make students indulge into the drug
abuse. The data was collected, organized and prepared for analysis by entry and coding in the
software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The main reasons for drug addiction
among the adolescents were found to be ranging from the stress of physical change, the
psychological changes, and competitions in school, individualization from family, sexual, social,
vocational identification, power, and independence. Drug abuse leads to poor performance and
aggressive behavior. Other factor starts with the curiosity to try and ends up becoming a graduate
in drug addiction field. The study recommended that the drug abusers should send for guidance,
heavy punishments and most important the counseling sessions to make students and their
environment drug-free. United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) reported over 60%
of students were on drug abuse. In the past two decades, the use or overuse of drugs illegally has
penetrated every part of the globe. The paper concluded by mentioning that the Ministry of
Education should take care of the material and moral support to the students. The drug abuse
information should be integrated into the school curriculum. Student’s behavior should be
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Drug Abuse and Resilience
checked, managed and supported. Parents and teachers should also be aware and guided to
develop the positive relationship between them (Ngesu, L. M., & Njeru, A. N., 2014).
Evaluation
Addiction is a complex chronic disease, quitting is more difficult than the strong will to do so. It
is a relapsing disease which means a person may return to its abuse even after a long interval of
leaving it. Resilience must be built in children to say no to drugs which are included under drug
addiction treatments. The parents, teachers, and guardians can follow the necessary steps to build
resilience among the youth to say no to drugs (Brown, J. H., 2001).
As a guardian when they admit their children into the school they should accept the
responsibility to check if their kids are attending the school daily, they should communicate with
the staff of the school to discuss the behavior of the child. Family members should also tell the
school members about the health issues and other matter of relevance. To cater for social,
emotional and developmental needs of students teachers should also help them in improvising.
They should ensure that the parents are given full access to information related to drug abuse and
related documents. Time to time feedback should be taken, and classroom management strategies
should be developed so as all the students take part in various activities. Students must be given
an award of appreciation in case they do well in particular field. Various support systems and
policy makers should provide services to take a look at changes in the behavior of growing
children and drug abuse. (Dusenbury, L., Brannigan, R., Falco, M., & Hansen, W. B., 2003).
Appropriate professional guidance must be provided to the staff in order they can deal with the
addicted students well. Elders should involve themselves in their conversations, be honest and
open to their questions. If any of the family members is into this drug abuse, then they must also
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Drug Abuse and Resilience
take some hard actions to save lives of their young ones along with their own lives.One of the
support systems that can be helpful to the children to build resilience against drug abuse is
D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). The main goal of this program is to inform
students with the skills to live drug and violence free lives (Davis, S. J., & Spillman, S., 2011). It
establishes the positive relation between students and teachers, parents, law enforcement and
community leaders. Lastly, the Ministry of Education must align themselves with National
Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) for streamlining the services that support the children
with behavioral and social issues emanating from drug abuse.
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Drug Abuse and Resilience
References
Ngesu, L. M., & Njeru, A. N. (2014). Causes and effects of drugs and substance abuse among
secondary school students in Dagoreti division, Nairobi West district.
Dusenbury, L., Brannigan, R., Falco, M., & Hansen, W. B. (2003). A review of research on
fidelity of implementation: implications for drug abuse prevention in school settings. Health
education research, 18(2), 237-256.
Brown, J. H. (2001). Youth, drugs and resilience education. Journal of Drug Education, 31(1),
83-122.
Davis, S. J., & Spillman, S. (2011). Reasons for drug abstention: A study of drug use and
resilience. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 43(1), 14-19.
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