Poor parenting a drawback to war on drugs in schools – educationist

Drugs and substance abuse among learners has posed a threat to the government’s one hundred per cent education transition policy.

This is according to Nickanor Arum, Katani Secondary School principal in Athi River, Machakos County.

The Geography and History teacher with over two decades of experience in the education sector blamed the vice on poor parenting.

Arum has been a secondary school teacher since the 90’s and principal since 2002.

He joined the school in 2017 from Nyanza having previously taught in several others including Chania Boys, Ngenda Secondary and Maralal Boys.

“Some children come from other schools with bad characters for readmission having been discontinued from their previous schools, a common trend with indiscipline learners,” Arum told the Star at his office on Wednesday.

Arum said several teachers across the country were grappling with the effects of such transfers as they toil day and night to reform indiscipline students through intensified guidance and counselling.

“Without knowing you may have over forty bad elements of learners with different characters ranging from drugs, petty theft, and ex-convicts from approved schools having been admitted to a school unknowingly,” Arum said.

“The main challenge has been parenting. Parents have got no time for their children leading to such kind of traits due to various factors,” Arum said.

He said such elements spoil other students through peer pressure once they join other schools.

Some also join secondary schools while they are already high on drugs alongside the aforementioned vices among others.

He said with proper parenting, a child can be well-guided right from home. But, even if the child lives with both parents and isn’t able to control him/her, the child loses direction.

Arum said lack of proper guidance and parenting leads to misguided conduct from the child.

He noted that drug peddling was terrible among learners in some day and boarding schools.

“Drug peddling is terrible in schools. Teachers should know how to handle learners abusing drugs to help rehabilitate them, they shouldn’t be written off as useless,” Arum said.

Arum said students who confess to being under the influence of drugs get assisted through guidance, counselling and rehabilitation in worse cases.

He also said some parents deny the fact that their children use drugs despite all evidence available alongside the latters’ confessions.

Arum said teachers find it difficult to help the culprits in such cases.

“You talk to the children found in possession of drugs who disclose sources of the drugs they consume and peddle. But if you pass the information to relevant authorities, no action is taken leaving you exposed to danger as a target,” Arum said.

He lauded the government on its intervention in the war against drug and substance abuse citing Second Lady Dorcas Rigathi’s rehabilitation programme.

“The war on drugs isn’t an easy one because it’s not only schools that provide market. It shouldn’t be limited to an area, but the entire country,” Arum said.

“Students find themselves in it. They then come to school. It’s a communal thing.”

Arum said some schools with enlightened parents were finding it easy to handle cases of drug abuse.

“Each school handles this depending on parental awareness, nature of the environment and moral state of the area,” Arum said.

Arum said as an expert he had been handling such cases since the 1990s.

“Some parents accept, some deny complicating efforts to help their children out of drugs,” he said.

He called for concerted efforts in the war against drugs and substance abuse.