CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DRUG ABUSE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN ETHIOPE EAST LGA OF DELTA STATE
The purpose of this research was to look at the impact of drug addiction on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Delta State’s Ethiope East Local Government Area. In order to conduct this study, questions were asked and hypotheses were developed. A sample of 240 pupils from six secondary schools in Ethiope East Local Government Area Delta State was utilised. To collect data on drug misuse from the sample, a 20-item Likert-type questionnaire prepared by the researcher and authorised by the supervisor was employed. The dependent variable was assessed using a performance test created by the researcher and verified by the supervisor and other specialists in three main subjects: English, Mathematics, and Biology.
The data for the five hypotheses were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Based on the data, it was concluded that there is a substantial negative association between drug misuse, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, narcotics consumption, and stimulant consumption by students and their academic performance. Based on the findings, recommendations were made, including that the federal government, states, and local governments should take a proactive approach to prevent drug abuse in our secondary schools by improving the quality of academic life and assisting secondary schools in fulfilling their academic missions. Administrators at public and private schools should focus on the most vulnerable members of our society, such as older children, adolescents, and young adults. Such educational measures should be carefully presented through methods that avoid threats and dramatization. Parents and school officials should teach their children about the harmful consequences of these medications.
1.1 The Study’s Background
Drug abuse is defined as the use of drugs for purposes other than medicinal objectives, which has a detrimental social, cognitive, or physical impact on the person. Kuria (1996). (1996). An individual’s increased proclivity to engage in confrontations with friends, instructors, and school officials may reflect social repercussions. Cognitive impacts include a person’s inability to concentrate on academic work and memory loss. According to Lewinsohn (2007), a drug is anything other than food or water that alters how individuals feel, think, perceive, and act. It is a chemical substance that has an impact on physical, mental, and emotional functioning. Chewing, inhaling, smoking, drinking, rubbing on the skin, or injection are all ways for it to enter the body. Drug misuse among the world’s young has become a severe issue that affects everyone. Addiction drives many individuals, particularly young people, into a downward spiral of despair, which may be lethal in certain situations. They vary from glue-sniffing street kids and adolescent ecstasy users to hard-core heroin and cocaine addicts (Nacada, 2005).
Drug misuse causes missed salaries, property devastation in schools, skyrocketing healthcare expenditures, and shattered families. As parents, children, teachers, government officials, taxpayers, and employees, we are all affected by this issue. The United States of America had citizens who were four times more likely to report using cocaine in their lifetime than the next closest country, New Zealand (16% vs. 4%). Marijuana use was more widely reported globally, and the United States also had the highest two rate of use at 42.4% compared to 41.9% of New Zealanders (Warner 2005-2008). On college and secondary campuses, there is a huge issue with alcohol and illegal drug usage. Specific issues reported among college and secondary students include binge drinking, underage drinking, underage binge drinking, and drug usage. The prevalence of these behaviours is estimated to be between 25 and 44%. Between 1993 and 2001, there was an increase in the proportion of pupils self-reporting these behaviours, according to American researchers (Mohler-Kuo et al., 2003).
Substance abuse is regarded as one of the most serious public health issues on American campuses (Sullivan and Risler, 2002). With prevalence rates on the rise and around 25 to 44% of students reporting alcohol and/or illicit drug usage in Pakistan, this topic is a major concern for Pakistani universities and secondary schools (Khattak, Iqbal and Ullah, 2012). Binge drinking, alcohol consumption, and illegal substance use all have negative repercussions for kids. According to Sheffield et al. (2005), binge drinking has major effects on students, including job, educational, and relationship issues. Furthermore, Wechser et al. (2002) show that, when comparing underage students to legal-age students, underage students who drink are more likely to face alcohol-related problems. Researchers in Pakistan discovered an increase in the incidence of drinking and drug use among college students, as well as an increase in self-reported alcohol-related repercussions, including arrests, between 1993 and 2001. (Nicklin, 2000; Wechsler, Lee and Nelson 2002).
According to existing research on alcohol and drug use among college and secondary students, the presently proposed study attempts to investigate the prevalence and character of alcohol use, as well as how it affects academic performance. 3 A South African research discovered a 39.1% prevalence of alcohol usage and a 10.6% prevalence of cigarette use among high school youths. Cannabis, inhalants, tranquillizers, heroin, and cocaine are among the various substances regularly utilised in these contexts. South Africa’s drug issue is severe, with drug use believed to be double the global average. Over 15% of their population is addicted to drugs. People who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics, according to research. Students who use alcohol or drugs in school are three times more likely to commit violent crimes.
Worryingly, the average age of drug dependence in South Africa is 12 years old, and it is decreasing (Peter Jordan, 2008). Tanzania, after Kenya, is the East African nation with the highest number of drug users, the majority of whom are school-aged teens. According to the Drug Control Commission (DCC) Report (2011), the real number of drug users in the United States ranges between 150,000 and 500,000. Statistics from Mirembe Hospital in Dodoma district included in the DCC Report suggest that the number of young persons using drugs and attending clinics at the hospital climbed from 290 in 2000 to 569 in 2005, a 96.2 per cent rise. Kenya has recorded high rates of drug use among students in public secondary schools, with rates as high as 84% for alcohol use and 54.7% for cigarette use (Odek-Ogunde et al., 2004). In the near future, the rates will continue to rise among students in institutions of higher learning. For example, (Kuria MW., 1996) discovered alcohol use prevalence rates of up to 15% among secondary school students, while (Kwamanga et al., 2003) discovered lifetime cigarette smoking rates of 32%. In a survey of Kenyan undergraduates, (Ogwell et al., 2003) found a lifetime cigarette smoking rate of 31%. 4 The UasinGishu County National Government launched an intensive effort to combat drug and substance misuse (Michael Shiundu, 2014, Kenya News Agency). Stakeholders formed advisory groups and other means to educate communities about the problem. The grassroots effort, which targeted parents and students, was led by chiefs and their aides.
Drug usage was becoming a tragedy in both rural and urban settings, according to Kapsoya location Chief Musa Kipchumba, as barons targeted schoolchildren. In an interview, the Chief said that community engagement in awareness programmes had resulted in a decrease in incidents of drug misuse by both parents and their children, hence raising student enrollment and completion rates in schools. He said that, although drug and substance addiction was prevalent among the young, elderly people were also engaging in substance abuse via excessive alcohol use. Increasing public knowledge of the hazards of drug misuse has become one of the County Government’s top responsibilities as public servants; via this effort, it is believed that incidences of drug and substance abuse would be decreased by a large proportion. The report stressed that steps had been put in place to minimise the manufacturing and distribution of illegal brews, adding that they had disbanded the illicit brew dens via local advisory committees created under the County Commissioner’s office.
1.2. Problem Description
Drug use has grown popular among students on campus as a result of fast growth, and it is even impacting their academic performance. Despite widespread awareness and instruction about the consequences of drug usage, most students have a limited understanding of how hazardous the habit is (Ngesu, 2008) Many pupils have dropped out of school, while others have chosen to participate in criminal activities, jeopardising the lives of those who reside in Delta State’s Ethiope East Local Government Area. The young generation no longer has role models since the majority of young adults are jobless and addicted to drugs. Despite the government’s concern and increased anti-drug programmes among high school students, there is a simultaneous faster rate of kids who use illegal drugs. Although students are supposed to be aware of the ramifications of drug misuse and devote themselves to their studies, the habit persists despite their earlier anticipated understanding of its implications.
Although excessive drug use is ubiquitous in all societies, including students, no critical research on variables affecting its prevalence comparing in-school to out-of-school adolescents has yet been undertaken in Delta State’s Ethiope East Local Government Area. This was determined after a comprehensive search through archives and libraries to ensure the uniqueness of this work. This was a new area of research, which encouraged the choice of Ethiopia East as the study’s site. As a result, the purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between low academic performance and drug usage in public secondary schools in Delta State’s Ethiope East Local Government Area. The research will also examine the numerous reasons why students take drugs, as well as the various sorts of drugs accessible to students. After analysing pupils’ behaviour while under the effect of these substances, this research will offer strategies for rehabilitating those already impacted and abolishing the drug-selling activity that is going on at our Secondary. The research will also provide legislative suggestions for mainstream drug-related initiatives in order to protect students and the whole young generation’s right to an education.
1.3. The Study’s Purpose
The goal of this research is to look at the impact of drug addiction on students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Delta State’s Ethiope East Local Government Area.
1.4 Objectives of Research
The present study’s goal will be to:
