Rehabilitation center helps youngsters kick the habit<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Everything is free here. Students don't have to
\npay for their tuition, training, food and boarding during their
\nyear-long study program.<\/p>\n
Welcome to the Rehabilitation Center for Narcotics Victims and
\nJuvenile Delinquents. The Khusnul Khotimah in Tangerang, West
\nJava, is home to 100 men between 15 and 25 years old.<\/p>\n
The term \"narcotics victims\" refers to former drug addicts or
\nalcoholics.<\/p>\n
The students receive mental, spiritual and social guidance as
\nwell as automotive, electronic, welding and sewing training. They
\nalso learn about discipline.<\/p>\n
The rehabilitation center is managed by the Ministry of Social
\nServices. The instructors come from the ministry, the police
\nforce and the Ministry of Manpower.<\/p>\n
\"We also tell them about HIV\/AIDS,\" said Sri Winarni, who is
\nin charge of narcotics and juvenile delinquency affairs at the
\nJakarta office of the Ministry of Social Services.<\/p>\n
Narcotics abusers are prone to HIV infection because the virus
\ncan spread through the use of unsterile syringes.<\/p>\n
Activities at the 3.3-hectare rehabilitation center begin at
\ndawn. The students have to get up at 4:30 a.m., pray together and
\nexercise before having breakfast and getting ready for their
\nfirst class, which starts at 8 a.m.<\/p>\n
\"At the beginning it was very hard for me to get up that early
\nbecause I used to sleep until 10 a.m.,\" one student, Rony, said.<\/p>\n
It took him a week to get accustomed to the new habit.<\/p>\n
A technical high school graduate, Rony worked in a furniture
\nshop last year for a while but quit because he did not like the
\nwork and earned little. He had been jobless for months when his
\nneighbor, a Ministry of Social Services employee, suggested he
\nregister with the rehabilitation center.<\/p>\n
Asked why he took drugs, the 19 year old replied he had not
\ntaken any drugs. He later admitted that he used to smoke
\nmarijuana. An enveloped of marijuana costs between Rp 10,000
\n(US$4.3) and Rp 15,000. An envelope is enough for four
\ncigarettes.<\/p>\n
\"I felt good when I was high. I was weak but happy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He says he can learn a lot at the center.<\/p>\n
\"I did not tell my girlfriend I am here. I just told her I
\ntake some courses organized by the Ministry of Manpower,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
There are five other rehabilitation centers for former addicts
\nand juvenile delinquents, all under the management of the
\nMinistry of Social Services. They are located in Lembang and
\nBogor, West Java; Semarang, Central Java; Surabaya, East Java;
\nand Medan, North Sumatra. Only the Lembang center is for women.<\/p>\n
The rehabilitation center in Tangerang has 42 employees,
\nincluding 12 social workers.<\/p>\n
The ministry's first rehabilitation center was established in
\na rented house in Cilandak, South Jakarta, in 1973. Two years
\nlater it had its own building in Slipi, Central Jakarta, but in
\n1994 it moved to a quiet area in Tangerang.<\/p>\n
\"We decided to move from Slipi because the environment was not
\nconducive to a rehabilitation center. It was too close to the
\ncrowds and they could buy alcohol from nearby stores,\" Winarni
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Tangerang center received Rp 184 million in operation fund
\nfor the 1996\/1997 fiscal year. The amount includes the budget for
\nthe meals, excluding rice, which costs Rp 2,000 a day for each
\nstudent.<\/p>\n
The center follows an open system, said Antoni Janer, head of
\nthe guidance section.<\/p>\n
\"We don't lock them in their rooms. They are free to go out or
\nreceive guests after class,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that he doesn't hesitate to punish late or truant
\nstudents. The punishment is usually cleaning bathrooms, the yard
\nor other parts of the compound.<\/p>\n
Students found taking drugs are shut in an isolation room for
\na week.<\/p>\n
\"They have pledged not to take drugs anymore and behave
\nthemselves, but you never know,\" Janer said.<\/p>\n
A urine test is performed twice a year to check whether the
\nstudents are really free from drugs.<\/p>\n
The center does not guarantee that the students will give up
\ntheir bad habits.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, five students and a man from outside the
\ncenter tried to steal the 29-inch television from the dining
\nroom.<\/p>\n
\"They had taken the TV set outside the complex, but dumped it
\non the ground. They were apparently afraid as they saw people
\nfrom the neighborhood,\" he said.<\/p>\n
An average of 10 percent of the students fail to correct their
\nbehavior, said Janer.<\/p>\n
The students are usually hooked on barbiturates, marijuana or
\nalcohol. The addicts without much money mixed aspirin with soft
\ndrink in an attempt to get high.<\/p>\n
\"Many students are from poor families. They can't afford
\nEcstasy,\" Winarni said.<\/p>\n
One Ecstasy pill costs at least Rp 40,000.<\/p>\n
\"It doesn't make any difference. They need to be rehabilitated
\nno matter what drug they take,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Sutisna Mihardja, the center director, said that parents are
\ninvolved in the rehabilitation of their children. In many cases,
\ntheir children became disoriented from lack of attention, she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Once in three months we invite them (the parents) to review
\nthe student's development,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Parents also have a monthly meeting to discuss their child's
\nproblems.<\/p>\n
Children are also susceptible to peer pressure.<\/p>\n
\"At first they just want to try because their friends do it.
\nLater on, they become addicted,\" Sustisna said.<\/p>\n
Andy, 17, started taking drugs in elementary school. His
\nworried parents sent him to junior high school in Padang, West
\nSumatra, with the hope that he would get better in the new
\nenvironment. Andy, who lived with his uncle, was expelled from
\nschool because a teacher found out he took drugs. He returned to
\nJakarta and went to another high school. Again, the school kicked
\nhim out because of his addiction to barbiturates.<\/p>\n
\"I took the drugs to forget my problems,\" he said, not
\nbothering to say what his problems were.<\/p>\n
Late last year, his parents took him to the Drug Dependency
\nHospital of Fatmawati in South Jakarta, where he stayed for a
\nmonth. The hospital then recommended that Andy enroll at the
\nrehabilitation center.<\/p>\n
Andy has kicked his dependency problem and plans to continue
\nhis formal education after he leaves the rehabilitation center.<\/p>\n
\"I want to go to a high school and continue my studies,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rehabilitation-center-helps-youngsters-kick-the-habit-1447893297",
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