Commentary : Determined Effort Against Drug Abuse in Schools Is Urgently Needed

I see the problem every day I’m in school. There are flyers advertising a party Friday night. Friends ditch school to go to the beach and do drugs. Friends skip class and go to the field to smoke a quick joint. People in my classes sell paraphernalia as well as the drugs right in class. Students draw pictures of mushrooms and syringes on their books.

The problem of drug abuse is visible and active, and I can see it. And I believe it is the same way at many schools. I see kids destroying their lives with such substances as pot, cocaine, crack, acid, speed and many other drugs.

We’ve got to look at the problem like a disease. You don’t just let it run its course, you do something about it. I believe that we’ve got to wage a war against drug abuse. I see that we need to commit to the battle and not give up. This is one battle we can’t afford to quit. I believe that if we persevere and stick to one common goal of stomping out drug abuse, we can and will accomplish it.

This isn’t a joke. Drugs are costing us lives! Peer pressure plays a large part in the drug problem at my school. Every day I see students walking around school stoned just because that’s what other people are doing. Some of them are, or could be, really good people, but because their friends are sour and into drugs and alcohol, they are too.

I have one friend who used to be a good student and athlete. Through some other students he became involved with, he started using drugs occasionally, just to be part of his new crowd. Later on he became a heavy user, and I constantly saw him walking around stoned at school. He had to quit some sports, his grades fell and we eventually lost contact.

I find myself questioning if drug users really want to be where they are. I believe that any user who is put in a drug-free environment where there is no peer pressure to do drugs will stay clean. But there is so much negative peer pressure out there that kids feel the only way to be accepted by their friends is to do what they are doing, predominantly drugs and alcohol.

I have talked to several users, and they say the only reason they got into drugs was because of their friends. They just want to fit into the crowd. It was either they had low self-esteem or low personal identity that they need so much acceptance. Society today provides so few self-esteem and identity builders that people need to be accepted by the crowd. Today, kids are faced with so many shifting and changing “constants” that they have nowhere to turn but their friends.

There’s no longer a constant to which we can cling. Adult relationships, or marriages, aren’t working out anywhere. A kid can’t hold on to his family because his parents are breaking up and fighting and generally have a tough time providing a solid place for a kid to go and relax and seek help. Oftentimes there are more problems in the family than anywhere else in a teen-ager’s world.

I have a friend who had a horrible family life. His parents were constantly bickering over every little detail about him and the rest of the family. He tried to reach out to his parents, but they were so busy fighting they didn’t have time for him. He told me me that this was one of the major reasons he became involved in drugs. He just needed to escape.

What used to be a rock for us to hold on to is now only sandy ground, constantly shifted and tossed by the turbulent waves. It’s like living on the San Andreas Fault. It could go any minute and leave you dead in a ditch. For this reason, kids are out looking for somewhere to turn, and their friends offer more stable ground. And if the ground requires you to use drugs, then you’re going to use drugs.

We must get out there and provide a platform where people can stand that doesn’t require them to use drugs and alcohol, commit crimes or have sex. We’ve got to get out there and tell people they can still be themselves, and we’ve got to be out there telling and showing kids that they are worth something and that they don’t have to fit into a mold to be accepted. They can be accepted by somebody no matter who they are.

We can fight this war on drugs in two ways.

First, some users just need someone to accept them and be their friend--outside of the drug circles. We need to reach out and care enough to listen and be willing to help them. Kids need someone to be with, someone who offers stability in their lives without having to blow their minds on drugs to be accepted. We need to care and support others, instead of being so extremely self-centered.

Second, if drug users do not respond to that, we must take a hard-nosed approach and crack down. We need to inform as many authorities as necessary to get the person off drugs. I’ve seen people who have had to be forced into programs to cure their disease. We need to start with the parents. Inform them, and if the problem isn’t handled, go to schools and ultimately the police.

I’ve seen some beautiful lives produced from horrible ones because they were forced into programs. We should do whatever it takes to get a person off drugs.