The use of illicit drugs among the children at schools has increased rapidly in the last decade, this warrants schools for testing their wards for probable drug addiction. A report shows that about 10% of the 8th graders, 25% of 10th graders and 30% of the 12th graders use marijuana.
A recent survey reveals that 44% of the middle school students and 80% of the high school students have had the chance of personally witnessing the illegal drugs being sold, used, and stored in their schools.
The illegal drug usage affects the mental and physical health and poses a serious problem for their brain development. It alters their way of thinking, mood, etc. thereby decreasing their concentration power and mental ability to solve problems. These drugs also cause disorientation and reduce one’s performance level thus leading to one’s failure in school assignments.
There are several teen drug abuse help available. Several free counseling centers provide with teen drug abuse information and tips on what to do when one comes across such a process. If you come across any teen drug abuse story, it is important you try to help them our either directly or indirectly.
Another usage of illicit drugs is for enhancing the athletic performance. Children at high school use drugs like creatine, anabolic steroids, and testosterone precursors for improvising their athletic performances. They use these drugs to decrease their tiredness and improve their physical health, but in turn these have severe effects such as weight gain, nausea, muscle cramps, etc.
To combat these practices, many schools have now adopted random drug testing method to be clear teen drug use and abuse. It is nothing but a drug test done randomly on the students. The main argument against it is that this implies loss of trust on the student when he is subjected to random drug testing. However, this can be implemented along with a supportive environment and proper rehab options for the student who is found to be a drug user.
