‘1 out of 3 city teenagers had a tryst with drugs’

Thiruvananthapuram: One out of three children in the 13-18 age group in the city had a tryst with drugs at least once in their school life.
This was revealed in a survey conducted by Childline in the district last year. The report titled ‘Drug Dependency Among School Children survey’ was presented by Fr. Thomas P D, director of Don Bosco Veedu Society, at a workshop on prevention of substance abuse among children held here on Saturday.

The study was conducted among boys studying between classes 8 and 12. Around 400 children were surveyed by Childline volunteers by administering a questionnaire which promised anonymity of the respondent.

Among the participants, 28.7% admitted to using drugs at least once. The main reason that prompts children to try out drugs was found to be proximity to close relatives and acquaintances who use drugs. 68.9% of the children said they have a close relative or friend using drugs. 39.8% accepted that they wished to use drugs after the first try while 8.9% tried drugs to know how it feels to be under the influence.

What is more alarming is the lack of knowledge on the ill effects of substance abuse among the children surveyed.

There were multiple sources used by children to access drugs. Beer, chewable tobacco like Cool-Lip and inhalants like fevibond and feviquick and even petrol were found to be the substances used by kids to get high. The study also revealed that rare drugs like brown sugar were also consumed by a small section of the children. 48% were found to use drugs in the age group of 16-18, 43% were between the age of 14 and 15 and 9% in the age group of 10-13. 75.8% procured drugs from shops and 27.7% obtained them through friends.

“Parents often send children to shops to buy cigarettes, gutka or pan masala. This needs to stop,” said Fr Thomas. He suggested an integral approach that involves counselling of parents and strengthening of anti-drug clubs in schools.

State nodal officer of Student Police Cadet , IG P Vijayan who delivered the keynote address at the seminar said substance addiction cannot be prevented through awareness classes alone. “Correction and mentoring the children who are addicted to substance is the only long-term solution,” he said.