Schools must be tough to fight drug problems

Simon Marcus Gower, Principal, Harapan Bangsa High School, Tangerang, Banten

A group of schoolboys sit huddled in a stairwell near to one of Jakarta's many fast food restaurants. In their early teens, their uniforms somehow seem more worn and dirty than most school kids but they have the youthful smiles and laughter of innocent childhood. Huddled together their excited behavior is what first draws attention to them.

Their laughter changes noticeably as they realize that they are being watched. Then as their nervousness gets the better of them the huddle breaks and opens and the pitiful scene is revealed.

One of them has a dazed expression and another is quickly trying to hide something. His efforts to conceal the truth are not quick enough and it is possible to see that they have been messing around with drugs.

The time of day at which they were seen suggests that they were playing truant from school. With no school nearby they have obviously traveled some distance from their school. Often, the distance between schools and their students and the potential for drug abuse is not great. In some Jakarta schools it is common knowledge among students that drug dealers wait within walking distance of the school ready and willing to push and sell their dangerous, illegal substances to unknowing, curious youngsters.

It is extremely regrettable that these drug dealers manage to infiltrate the lives of school kids but it is equally regrettable that school and law enforcement authorities are not sufficiently knowledgeable about these activities and so acting upon and against them. Some have suggested that both schools and the police do know of such activities but do not act because they fear reprisals from gang bosses.

But a get-tough policy on these drug dealers is needed; they are pushers too and so they may quickly inflict their drug culture on the youthful school population. Knowledge is clearly abundant and easily accessed about these drug-dealing activities but tough action is required in response to this knowledge.

Another experience from Jakarta schools illustrates the knowledge that exists about the drug problem but again reflects inactivity. A student registered for a school quite distant from her home. Effectively, at her parents' insistence, she was to be a commuting school student. Why should this be so?

Her parents had observed that the schools in their immediate area had drugs problems. This may have been little more than rumor but sometimes some truth lies beneath and it was the parents' belief in this that forced them to choose a distant school.

However no school can afford to be complacent about the potential threat of drugs. The consistency with which media report the apprehension of a drug smuggler at a port of entry into Indonesia shows how the criminal underworld is willing to bring such drugs into this country.

Complacency on drugs cannot be allowed on the basis of such reports either. Every smuggler that is caught is likely to represent only a percentage of those that are getting through. Recently Customs Officers in the United States noted that even though they are improving their rate of capture of smugglers and seizure of drugs, there is a free-flow of illegal drugs throughout the U.S. It is more than likely that this experience is being replicated in Jakarta.

The supply of these volatile and often life threatening drugs is part of the problem but as much of a part of the problem, and a critical element of the solution, for drugs abuse is education. Supply does not exist without demand and demand is only possible because of the efforts of pushers, the distribution network created by sellers and a failure of education to counter a drug culture.

Schools have to be a key part of this education process. Educating young people of the dangers and foolishness of messing with drugs. But many schools seem to be ill equipped to provide such education. Teachers lack understanding of the problem and so their ability to respond to the threat of drugs abuse within their school or classroom is limited.

In one school, a student had never been outstanding but he seemed to be becoming more unruly and unpredictable. His absenteeism increased and there was concern from the school; but when he returned there was a relatively complacent acceptance and he was readmitted to classes.

However, to a person that has some experience with or training in dealing with drug users, it was quite quickly recognizable that this student was experimenting with drugs. But his teachers, when told that the student evidently had a drug problem, were surprised and some were even shocked.

Their comments: "I thought he was still not feeling well after being absent"; "When I caught him sleeping in my class, it was just another example of his laziness." The reality that he was becoming a drug user was something that his teachers had not been able to observe.

Drugs are getting into the market and sadly a significant portion of this market is potentially school kids. Out of a duty of care and guardianship, schools need to have expertise to counter the threats of drug abuse. Anti-drug slogans, as have been widely seen throughout Jakarta, is not enough.

It is increasingly essential that school staff members have knowledge of drugs and drug problems so that they can educate students about such matters. Schools also need members of staff that can recognize the signs of drug use so that they can give early warnings that a student is at risk and in need of help.

Getting tough on drugs means getting informed and so ready to take action. Preferably the educative action would be preemptive, but if that is not possible action should at least constitute counseling and assistance to overcome the problem.

People are certainly aware of the dangers and potential for growth in drug abuse. Schools and their staff may need to act quickly to become "drugs savvy" so that they can truly, and rightfully, help stop the scourge. Today's youth, in their innocence, are a target and may be tempted, but if they are informed they may be able to rebuff this targeting and not be tempted. Schools can be and should be primary fighters against the incursion of drug abuse into Indonesian society.