'Force religion on kids, not drugs'

'Force religion on kids, not drugs'

Every parent fears that their children might become trapped in
the cycle of drug addiction. They talked to The Jakarta Post
about their fears and what should be done to deal with the
problem of drug abuse among youth.

Armyn Gutom, 35, an activist with an NGO who has two children,
and lives in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta.

"Drug trafficking is difficult to be curbed because the police
are not serious in handling the problem. Maybe, the police also
profit from the business. They may receive something from the
narcotics bosses.

I think if they were serious they would be able to resolve
this problem. It is inconceivable that the police and the related
agencies do not know of the drug trafficking networks. The
police, for example, are provided with an intelligence unit which
should be able to track their networks. If they cannot, why
should we have police and other security agencies?

I think all Indonesian people who have children fear that
their children would use drugs. I, myself, have a relative who is
addicted to narcotics. His parents have tried to cure him,
including through therapy, but so far their efforts have not been
so successful."

Haris Pindratno, 42, is a civil servant living in Cijantung,
East Jakarta, whose eldest child is now a third-year junior high
student.

"As we cannot expect too much from the legal system to resolve
problems of drug trafficking, what we can do now is to protect
our family members from taking drugs and other addictive
substances.

As parents, we should be able to explain to our children about
the danger of drugs on their health as well as on their future.
Parents, I think, should always try to know their children's
friends and their activities outside the house.

Another important thing is that children should be introduced
to religion as young as possible so that they can protect
themselves from bad influences of the environment.

I do not blame the police and other law enforcers who cannot
solve the problems of drug trafficking because they are very
limited.

I think the move of the government to cooperate with non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and other elements in society
to deal with drug problems should be supported."

Amir Hamzah, 57, a retired civil servant who is now active in
an NGO, and has two grown-up children.

"I think the source of the difficulty in handling drug
problems is the government's inconsistency in upholding
regulations. The government or law enforcers, I think, lack a
commitment to upholding the law.

The action against drug traffickers as shown by Governor
Sutiyoso (who raided two night spots last week) will not solve
the problem as it is only a political move. The entertainment
places that were shut down have resumed their operation.

Thank God that none of my children take narcotics. Because I
feared that my children could be involved in this activity, since
they were young, I have tried to make them understand the danger
of consuming drugs. Introducing religion to our children from an
early age, I think, is the most important thing for parents to
do."