NACADA: Drugs the cause of unrest in schools
The National Authority for Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) has linked the ongoing arrest in schools to students partaking in drugs and substances.
NACADA Board chairman Mabel Imbuga says investigations have shown kiosks or shops and bars near schools have been found to be the major sources of drugs and substances.
Normalization of drug consumption in homes has also contributed to this menace, he added.
The authority, he said, is alarmed by the rising cases of indiscipline among learners which she blamed on drug abuse due to the availability of the drugs around schools and lack of condemnation of drug abuse in families.
“Just three weeks after the reopening of schools, there have been heightened cases of indiscipline among primary and secondary school students, and a majority of these cases are attributed to drug abuse,” Imbunga said in a press statement.
She said parents have a responsibility to nurture their children positively and those who choose to raise their children in a home where addiction is prevalent, and even considered normal, can end up harming them in various ways.
“Children look up to their parents for guidance in all ways and when a parent’s judgment is affected by substance abuse, they can not only cause mental, physical, and emotional disturbance, but they can also severely alter or hamper their child’s development in all these stages.”
During the survey, 19.3 percent of the students said they got the drugs from friends.
Worryingly, 13.7 and 13.6 percent of the learners interviewed said they got the drugs from their peers and school workers respectively.