Communication, socio-economic and cultural factors influencing campaigns against drugs and substance abuse among youths in Kenya: a case study of High school students in Nairobi

Abstract

This study sought to examine the communication, socio-economic and cultural factors influencing campaigns against drugs and substance abuse with a particular focus on students in high schools in Nairobi. In particular it sought to determine the communication strategies used in the campaigns, what impact communication regarding drugs has had on youth's knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices, the communication habits among youth in relation to drug information and the role socio-economic and gender factors play in the risk behaviour associated with drugs. Some 350 self-administered questionnaires were sending out, and 299 were returned constituting a return rate of 85%. However, data analysis was done on only 252 questionnaires whose respondents duly completed, the rest being spoiled. Findings of the data show that majority of students actually are aware of the health hazards drug use/abuse certainly cause. Responses indicate majority of the students find drug repulsive. Intriguingly, however, 77% of the respondents know friends who were having a drug related problem, with some seeking help from teachers, friends or simply having apparently resigned to the problem. While over 70% of the respondents were exposed to Television and over 50% to radio on daily basis, only 15% of the respondents said they g.,.ot most of their drug information from television while only 4% got theirs from radio. Majority of the respondents said they got most of the drug information they had from the teachers. The inference that could be made from these findings are that although communication has played a role in creating awareness about the health hazards of drug use/abuse, the awareness so produced has not had any appreciable effect on behaviour. Over half of the students had in fact drunk alcohol in the past one year, while 22 % of the respondents had in fact drunk alcohol within the two weeks prior to the study and 15% within a month prior to the study which was done the first week ofthird in 2007. The upshot of all these findings is that the government, Non-governmental organisations, parents and schools are up against a Herculean task: new thinking and strategies is urgently needed in order to save the youth from the ravages of the drug scourge.