A study of causes and effects of drug abuse among students in Dagoretti Division, Nairobi West District, Kenya

Abstract

Drug and substance abuse has continued to ruin our youth and subsequently education despite various measures taken to stop it. So, there is need to curb this vice. This study aimed at finding out what makes students abuse drugs and the effects that arise out of this practice with reference to Dagoretti Division, Nairobi West District. The study has also suggested measures that can be taken to control drug and substance abuse. Literature review related to the topic was done.

It was organized under the topics including; history of drug and substance of abuse, causes of drug abuse in Kenya, drug abuse among students in schools, effects of drug abuse on the individual and on education. The study employed survey research design. The sample consisted of one hundred students and five guidance and counseling teachers. In total, one hundred and five respondents were sampled. Simple random sampling procedure was used to select students from form one to form four. Data was collected with the help of questionnaires.

Data was organized and prepared for analysis by coding and entry in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). It was then found that majority of students abuse drugs to feel high. They also are driven into taking drugs by virtue of peer pressure. It was also noted that poor performance is the greatest effect of drug abuse among drug taking students. This was also accompanied by anti-social behaviour developed as a result of drug abuse.

In addition, it was observed that many learners are unaware of causes and effects of drug abuse. In the event of finding possible solutions of curbing drug abuse, punishment of drug abusers was proposed by many respondents. However, students observed to do little efforts in curbing the problem among them. It is against such a backdrop that the study recommended for guiding and counseling sessions to be effective in changing student behaviour.