Factors Related with Drug/Alcohol Addiction amongst School Going Students in Pune, India

Transcription

1 The International Journal of Indian Psychology ISSN (e) ISSN: (p) Volume 4, Issue 3, No. 97, DIP / ISBN: April-June, 2017 Factors Related with Drug/Alcohol Addiction amongst School Going Students in Pune, India Mohammad Amiri 1 * ABSTRACT Addiction may be perceived as an aberrant behaviour and as a social problem in metropolitan cities in India. It is regarded as an evidence of individual s social maladjustment and viewed as a widespread condition that has harmful impact on society. Today, in Indian metropolitan cities, illicit drugs and alcohol are not only being consumed by street children but school going children have also fallen prey to it. Majority of the addicted students in Pune are slum dwellers and belong to the lower middle class of society. Through this study, efforts have been made to focus on the causes leading to addiction amongst school going students, and on the impact of addiction on students physical health, mental health and social behaviour. Researcher has also highlighted the major kinds of addiction amongst school going students (in the age group of 10 to 16 years) and efforts made by teachers for eradication of addiction among school going students. The result of the study shows that, the rate of drug abuse is very high, and there are many ill effects of addiction on the psychological condition of the students. It is also found that, teachers are facing several challenges in the counselling process for addicted students due to poor response of parents. Keywords: Alcohol addictions, Drug addictions, Children, Health, Students Addiction of any kind is the uncontrollable craving for a pleasurable activity or a habitual relieving sensation. The sustained use of an intoxicated material/drug or unhealthy relief mechanism develops a physiological or emotional dependence (Ahuja, 1992). Addiction is also described as a guide fix which gradually makes the situation worse over the long run. Originally the term was used in connection with heroin and opiates, then expanded to include drugs, smoking, tobacco, alcohol etc, and finally broadened to cover all kinds of physical or emotional dependence (Kaur, Chaudhary, Gupta, Devgun, & Khurana, 2015). 1 Ph.D. Scholar, Centre for Social Work, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India *Responding Author Received: March 30, 2017; Revision Received: April 15, 2017; Accepted: April 25, Mohammad A; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

2 Addiction among school going students is the major social problem which is engulfing them very badly. Addiction is not only harmful for them but also harmful for their families and social life. Addiction of drugs/alcohol among the school going students (particularly in the age group of 10 years to 16 years) is dangerous morally, socially and also economically. School going students are attracted towards alcohol and other kinds of addiction, usually to escape from their besetting worries, tension of study, peer-stress, which are largely because of indigence; but as it is obvious, addiction of drugs/alcohol can help only perpetuate ill health and loss of educational career of the student. Due to addiction, students are unable to distinguish between good and bad, right or wrong (Mohan, Chopra, & Sethi, 2002). This leads to loss of self-control and behaviour of student becomes involuntary and capricious. Therefore, any kind of addiction produces personality disintegration and is a major cause of family disorganization. Addiction amongst school going students has resulted in increased distress and tension levels, crime and violence in the present day. This social evil has changed entire, social and family values of the addicted school students (Chavan, Arun, Bhargava, & Singh, 2007). Significance of the Study Due to changing social values, for school going children/adolescents, any kind of addiction have become rite of passage into adulthood in effect addiction of alcohol, drugs, smoking etc has become a part of their social conditioning. Today, in case of adolescent students, hazardous addiction is significantly associated with severe physical and mental health problems. The drug business related to the violence and crime in Indian society is frightening and its influence is alarming and badly influencing on the school going children/adolescents. Therefore, it is significant to identify the root cause or factors which are pushing the school going students to addiction of alcohol, drugs etc. Several studies and researches (Mohan et al., 2002; Chavan et al., 2007; Kaur et al., 2015) have been conducted pertaining to the addiction in India; but majority of these studies are in the context of adult persons and by medical scientists and psychiatrists than sociologists. The present study is significant with a view to identify the causes and impact of addiction amongst school going students with sociological point of view. Several efforts have been taken at school level to eradicate the addiction among students but, many problems faced by the teachers in the process of counselling of addicted students. This study is important to identify the major problems faced by teachers in the process of counselling of addicted students. Objectives of the Study Considering the importance of the study, the following objectives have been formulated: 1. To understand the socio-economic background of addicted students 2. To understand the impact and causes which lead to addiction amongst students? 3. To identify the major types of addiction among the students 4. To understand the efforts made by teachers at school level for eradication of addiction amongst students The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN (e) ISSN: (p) 151

3 5. To identify the problems faced by teachers in the counselling process and implementation of various anti-addiction programmes METHODOLOGY The present study is exploratory in nature. Structured questionnaires have been used to collect primary information from teachers of selected schools and addicted students by adopting Systematic Random Sampling method. The survey method has been used for the study purpose. Selection of Sample Random sample of 106 teachers and 122 addicted students from 24 schools (selected randomly) located in various suburbs of Pune city were selected. Teachers are very close to the students at school level, therefore they know about the students grasping level, their attitude towards education and their habits etc. Teachers were interviewed with a view to get authentic information pertaining to the addiction amongst students and get information about efforts made by them for eradication of addiction among students. Limitations of the Study 1. The present study has been limited to the Pune city only and therefore the results may not be generalized to the other cities of India. 2. Due to sensitive topic sometimes there was difficulty for the researcher to get required authentic information from the addicted students. Some students do not want to expose themselves about their addiction. RESULT AND DISCUSSION The following table shows the demographic information of selected addicted students: Table. 1 (A), Distribution of students according to their age group Age Group Frequency Percentage 10 years to 12 years 20 16% 13 years to 15 years 58 48% 15 years to 16 years 44 36% The above table indicates information about the age group of addicted students. Majority of the selected students 48% were in the age group of 13 years to 15 years. 36% students were in the age group of 15 years to 16 years; and 16% students were in the age group of 10 years to 12 years. Table. 1 (B), Residential (Locality) area wise distribution of selected students Residential Areas Frequency Percentage Slum area 89 73% Housing Society 12 10% Other area 21 17% The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN (e) ISSN: (p) 152

4 The factor like area of residence or locality is also responsible for students falling for addiction. In slum areas majority of people are uneducated, unemployed and involved in alcohol and drugs intake. They are not aware of the ill effects of addiction. The above table indicates that majority (73%) of the students were staying in slum areas of Pune city and used various intoxicated substances. Table. 1 (C), Occupation of selected students parents Occupation Frequency Percentage Service 12 10% Self employed 79 65% Seasonal Occupation 15 12% Labour 16 13% As per the information provided by the selected students, 65% students parents are selfemployed (Hawkers, Vegetable Seller etc). It contributes major percentage of selected sample. Parents of 10% students were engaged in service, 12% and 13% parents were engaged in seasonal occupations (Seasonal fruit/ vegetable sellers etc) and labour work respectively. These people always face financial problems. Table. 1, (D), Monthly Income of selected students families Income (Rs) Frequency Percentage Below Rs. 5000/ % Rs to Rs / % Above Rs / % As per the information provided by selected students, families of 59% students have family income (monthly) between the range of Rs and Rs , 30% students family income is only up to Rs. 5000, which is inadequate for survival of people staying in metropolitan city like Pune. Only 11% students families monthly income is above Rs Lack of financial security forces parents to work whole day, for their survival and for maintaining their families. Therefore they cannot pay attention towards their children s educational progress. Due to lack of control by parents, students fall into the hands of addiction. Table. 1 (E), Kinds of intoxicated material consumed by the selected school going students Kinds of addiction Frequency Percentage Smoking cigarettes/bidi 32 26% Chewing Guthka/ Panmasala Tobacco 23 19% Alcohol/Drugs 31 25% Other intoxicated materials/ Hemp 36 30% The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN (e) ISSN: (p) 153

5 The above table indicates the various kinds of intoxicated material consumed by the school going students. As per the information collected from the students smoking 26%, chewing Guthka/ Panmasala tobacco 19%, drinking alcohol 25% and drug intake hemp (Opium, Ganja etc) 30% and including other intoxicated materials like Iodex, Adhesive like Feviquick etc. Information about the school going students addiction is also collected from the teachers, with a view to understand their opinion on the causes of increasing addiction among the school going students and their impacts on them. The following table shows the various causes of addiction among the school going students as per the information provided by teachers. Table. 2(A), Causes of addiction among school going students (Multiple responses) Impact Frequency Percentage Always quarrelling with other students/ Thrashing 72 68% Always Speaking lie % Scam 90 85% Negligence towards study/ high absenteeism in the school % Robbery 61 58% Health problem % Low grasping power 87 82% In the opinion of 68% teachers, addicted students are always quarrelling with other students or thrashing with them. They want to create pre-eminence among the other students. They are having superiority complex, due to wrong thoughts about virility. Addicted students are always speaking lie with their parents, teachers as stated by 98% teachers. In the opinion of 85% teachers, scam mind set is created among the addicted school students. There is habit of not attending school due to addiction and total negligence towards study and aimless strolling in the city with the peer group, as opined by 100% teachers. Some addicted students also turn to robbery for fulfilling of the expenditure on their addiction, stated by 58% teachers. Due to addiction majority of students faced health problems stated by 100% teachers and due to severe health problems they lose their grasping capacity stated by 82% teachers. Table. 3 (A), Efforts made by teachers for eradication of addiction among school going students Efforts Frequency Percentage Counselling to students 11 10% Arrangement of exhibition pertaining to bad impacts of 05 5% addiction for the school going students Discussion with parents 23 22% All the above efforts 67 63% Total % 10% teachers are stated that, they are counselling the students as per requirement. 5% teachers are stated that, they arrange exhibition at school level pertaining to the bad effects of addiction, with a view to bring about a change in the mentality of the students. 22% teachers directly The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN (e) ISSN: (p) 154

6 contacted the students parents and informed them about the bad habit of addiction by their children. 63% teachers stated they are making all the above stated efforts to eradicate addiction amongst the school going students. Table. 3 (B), Support by parents to the efforts made by the teachers for eradication of addiction among school going students Opinion Frequency Percentage Very good support by parents 18 17% Very poor support by parents 88 83% Total % There is very poor support by the parents to the efforts made by teachers for eradication of addiction among school going students, stated by 83% teachers, and only 17% teachers responded positively in this context. According to the teachers, majority of students parents are not aware about the addiction of their children, because of their busy work schedule of the day. Table. 4, Difficulties/ Problems faced by teachers in counselling process for addicted school going students (Multiple responses) Difficulties/ Problems Frequency Percentage Difficulty in making positive mind set of the addicted student % towards education Lack of parents cooperation 88 83% Low grasping power of students due to addiction 93 88% Lack of students cooperation to get rid of addiction % As per the information provided by the selected teachers, 100% of the teachers face difficulties in making positive mind set of the addicted students towards education and getting cooperation from them to get rid of addiction. Parents are not cooperative with them, was stated by 83% teachers and 88% teachers stated that, due to addiction many students have lost their grasping capacity, therefore it is very difficult for the teachers to counsel them or to help them get rid of addiction. Due to loss of grasping power/ capacity addicted students do not understand, what is good and what is bad for them. MAJOR FINDINGS/ OBSERVATIONS 1. It is found that, majority of the addicted students are in the age group of 13 years to 16 years. The percentage of addicted students who are in the age group of 10 years to 12 years (21%) is also worrisome. 2. Majority of the students monthly family income is between Rs to Rs only and very few of the students monthly family income is above Rs It is informed that, parents are always facing financial problems due to their low income. The majority of the parents are self-employed and very few of them are engaged in private or PMC services (Pune Municipal Corporation) like garbage picker, road sweeper, watchmen etc. Some parents are running small business such as small grocery shop, vegetable shop, tea shop etc. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN (e) ISSN: (p) 155

7 Some of them are rickshaw driver, hawkers etc. Some parents are engaged in seasonal occupation like selling of fruit juice in the summer season, selling of seasonal fruits, selling of Ganesh idols at the time of Ganesh festival etc. 3. Through the study it is found that students are using different addictive substances such as chewing tobacco, gutkha, smoking cigarettes/bidis, drinking alcohol/ beer and intake of hemp, drugs etc. 4. Curiosity, peer pressure, parents addiction and negligence towards children are the major causes which lead to increase of addiction among school students. 5. Majority of the student are having wrong concept or wrong thoughts about virility. In the opinion of addicted students having any kind of addiction is a symbol of vigour or virility. 6. It is found that, majority of the selected school going students are staying in the various slum areas located in the Pune city. 7. The major impacts of addiction amongst school going students are frequently quarrelling with other students or thrashing, speaking lies, involving in robbery, preferred to staying with the scamp friends. 8. It is found that, several efforts are made by teachers for eradication of above mentioned kinds of addiction among the students. These efforts are in the form of counselling, arrangement of exhibition pertaining to bad effects of addiction of drugs and alcohol and discussion with parents etc. Astonishing fact is that, there is very poor response from programmes arranged by schools. 9. It is found that, teachers face many difficulties in the counselling process. Making positive mind set of students for taking education and give up the addiction has now become very difficult and challenging task for them. Apart from this, they are not getting proper cooperation from the parents of the addicted students. The teachers informed that, sometime it may happen that, students having low grasping power due to addiction are not ready to change their mind set and not ready to keep them away from any kind of addiction. CONCLUSION On the basis of informal discussions with teachers, and other sociological experts, it is concluded that, academic factors are often causes of addiction among students. Having poor academic skills, they are always under tension of academic progress. This can in turn create a sense of pressure to start consuming intoxicated material. In short, peer-pressure, curiosity, parents addiction, friendship with scamp friends, negligence by parents, wrong concept about virility, pressure of academic performance and family problems, certainly plays a very significant role in determining the inclination, initiation towards addiction among school going students. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN (e) ISSN: (p) 156

8 SUGGESTIONS 1. There should be frequent arrangement of educational and preventive programmes at school, family and at society level with a view to reduce the growing problem of addiction of substance among school going students. 2. Parents of students should pay more attention to their children by knowing that their children are staying with other addicted students. 3. There should be inclusion of subject pertaining to the bad/ negative effect of addiction and other social vices like moral education, social values and awareness programmes in the educational curriculum. 4. There is a wide scope for social workers, who can work with schools and families and can take the lead in the implementation of the school level prevention programmes for adolescents. 5. Combined efforts of social workers and teachers can help school students avoid using intoxicated materials, hemp etc or change their behaviour. 6. Addicted student should get support from their parents, good friends, and relatives to give up addiction. Acknowledgments The author appreciates all those who participated in the study and helped to facilitate the research process. Conflict of Interests: The author declared no conflict of interests. REFERENCES Agu, S. A., Nwankwo, B. E., Obi, T. C., Sydney-Agbor, N., & Mgbenkemdi, H. E. (2013). Effect of gender and locality on alcohol abuse among secondary school students. International Journal of Humanity and Social Sciences, 2(1), Retrieved from Ahuja, R. (1992). Social problems in India. Rawat Publications, Jaipur, India. Retrieved from Beauvais, F. (1992). Trends in Indian adolescent drug and alcohol use. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 5(1), Retrieved from urnal/documents/volume%205/5(1)_beauvais_trends_1-12.pdf Chavan, B. S., Arun, P., Bhargava, R., & Singh, G. P. (2007). Prevalence of alcohol and drug dependence in rural and slum population of Chandigarh: A community survey. Indian journal of Psychiatry, 49(1), 44. Retrieved from The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN (e) ISSN: (p) 157

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