The National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) has released alarming findings on teenage drug and substance abuse that serve as a wake-up call for our nation.
The moral decline driven by criminal networks, which profit from illegal cash flows, has infiltrated our schools and social environments.
Nacada highlights that the ages of 13 to 15 are critical for teenagers’ initiation into substance abuse, with substances like bhang, alcohol, and tobacco wreaking havoc on our youth.
Schools and parents must recognize drug abuse as a serious criminal issue that requires robust criminal justice intervention, rather than merely a disciplinary concern. This situation represents a national emergency that demands immediate action, vigilance, and open dialogue.
Parents should actively engage with their children’s friends, routines, and online activities, fostering an environment where young people feel safe discussing peer pressure without fear of judgment.
Schools should incorporate drug education into their daily programs instead of relegating it to occasional lectures. Age-appropriate campaigns, life skills lessons, counseling, and peer-led initiatives should be integral to the curriculum.
Nacada’s research shows that school-based strategies can enhance awareness and reduce drug-related disciplinary issues.
We must extend our efforts into sports clubs, churches, youth centers, social media, and other venues where young people congregate for leisure.
We cannot afford to allocate limited public resources to continuously address damage that proactive prevention could have avoided. Every teenager rescued from addiction is a patriotic Kenyan, ready to contribute to the nation.
As Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling wisely stated, “To achieve great things we must be self-confined…mastery is revealed in limitation.”
