Schools need strong policies on drugs to protect young people

Schools need strong policies on drugs to protect young people

Simon Marcus Gower, Jakarta

It seems a sad but unfortunately an increasing sight on the
streets of Jakarta to see teenagers and even younger children
wearing school uniforms and smoking cigarettes. Quite usually in
groups, it is evident that no small amount of peer pressure must
be at play in these children's minds to make them want to smoke.

Girls as well as boys are out there smoking and children as
young as junior high age can be seen puffing away on cigarettes.
This has to be a concern. For adults the smoking habit is not
good news but for still growing children the situation must be
gravely concerning. In a city such as Jakarta air quality is
always a problem with such huge amounts of pollution and yet
many, many children are choosing to directly suck smoke into
their lungs.

Such a habit in the young might seem senseless but evidently
it is a habit for many. Many are effectively addicted to smoking
before they have even reached an age where they might be able to
make mature and informed choices. But this is clearly where
guidance and counseling must come in to assist the young and
learning.

This, then, highlights a key area that schools need to get
involved in. Schools cannot just think of themselves as places
where students study academically. Schools have a vital social
role and increasingly a part of this "social role" is, in
partnership with parents, to help young people to protect
themselves from the dangers and harm that may be caused by
illegal drugs, tobacco and other addictive substances.

Schools have a key role in educating children and raising
their awareness of the damaging health consequences of drug use.
This can be done particularly effectively by the use of real life
stories of young people who have been through the harrowing
experiences of drugs.

But in addition schools need to be ready and staffed to
respond to drug related issues. For example it is critical that
schools are able to assist in the identification and support of
any student that may have a drug problem. Sometimes it is
possible to see schools that are woefully inadequate in their
staff and provision for drugs problems.

One school student, (who had fallen in with the wrong crowd,
had become the victim of a pusher and so was quickly falling into
a threatening habit), was foolishly set aside as a student that
was "just not managing to keep up with his school work" and was
essentially labeled as "a lazy student". His tardiness, absence
and disheveled appearance when he did arrive at school were
mistakenly seen as confirming the school's beliefs about him.

However, it was his parents and brothers that effectively came
to his rescue and identified the problem. The school here had in
essence failed, "dropped the ball" and the student was allowed to
go far too far down the road towards a devastating drug problem.

So how can schools avoid "dropping the ball"? It would be
entirely foolish and inadequate to complacently think and say
that "we don't have a drugs problem here" because it has been
proven that such an attitude allows the problems to fester and
grow undetected and so inevitably be far more difficult to tackle
later on.

In the United States for example there was for quite some time
a denial of the problem that allowed it to grow, so much so in
fact that estimates now suggest that over fifty percent of high
school students and around thirty percent of middle school
students know where and to whom to go to buy illegal drugs and
often the people that they buy them from are fellow students.

Other statistics from the US are equally alarming and should
be a warning to Indonesia as to the direction that could be
followed unless caution and care is taken. It is estimated that
around seventy-five percent of US students have smoked before
they graduate and around fifty percent have smoked marijuana. A
further thirty percent have used other illegal drugs.

It is critical then that schools have policies that they can
actively implement to reduce the dangers facing young people.
These would include the use of searches, drugs testing
procedures, counseling and referral to appropriate support
agencies where necessary and a consistent and considered program
of drugs education as part of the schools general health
education curriculum.

Some of these measures may seem strong, even heavy-handed, but
that may be what is right and appropriate. A major concern and
potential problem such as the issue of drugs and addictions
generally has to be dealt with in a firm but fair way. Even small
amounts of drugs use can ruin futures and severely disrupt and
damage the life of a school.

Measures to address drug related matters, then, need to be
handled with a firm but steady hand. A draconian application of
rules with immediate expulsions may not always be most effective
and is certainly less likely to be instructive and assisting in
developing understanding and knowledge.

Likewise, efforts such as searches need to be handled with
care. It is important that sufficient grounds for searches be
established and understood and that such searches are not too
intrusive as to represent an unacceptable invasion of privacy.
For example during one such search a teacher chose to open a
student's personal journal; this was too intrusive and ultimately
offensive.

Schools do, though, very distinctly need policy on drugs. Such
policy should be very inclusive so that teachers, parents and
students are aware of it and reasonably familiar with what is
expected and to be expected. School drugs policy can then be an
addition to a general code of conduct for the school.

Also, teachers and students should be aware of the procedures
that apply to such policy. This would include search procedures
but may also include procedures in the event of an emergency --
such as a medical emergency caused by a student's consumption of
a drug.

Perhaps, though, the greatest concern and need is when it
comes to having a support staff that is trained and able to
counsel students. Such a team would include guidance teachers/
counselors, school psychologist, management staff and perhaps
even a representative from a drug rehab center.

Drug education programs are an ongoing necessity; a necessity
for both teachers and students alike. For example one teacher
when queried about smoking students practically laughed it off
with a "forget about it" attitude of "well most Indonesian men do
smoke". Complacency such as this is misplaced and practically
dangerous.

The writer is an education consultant.