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Some youths even organise their own binges. A few months ago, about 10 pupils at some secondary schools in the city went on a drinking and sex binge at a house in Matsheumhlope. Some scenes of the escapades were caught on camera and videos leaked.
The last day of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in the city is one favourite day for youths to spoil themselves. They often go on a drinking spree with most of them later indulging in unruly activities which lead to some of them being arrested.
This year was no different as the city centre was filled with highly intoxicated youths who also went on a rampage, vandalising property. Some of them could be seen in possession of alcoholic beverages and others precariously sitting on open windows of speeding kombis.
Last year about 30 teenagers were arrested for public disorder committed on the last day of the ZITF. The youths, under the influence of alcohol caused disturbances at the fair after engaging in fights.
This year police arrested 14 youths for disorderly conduct and vandalising property at Bulawayo Centre and cars that where parked outside the ZITF arena.
Confusion also reigned supreme at the much-awaited Miss Africa Day pageant held at Walkers Pub on 25 May, as drunken youths invaded the stage and disrupted the modelling competition.
Two youths knocked down the speakers that the organisers had put in place and in their drunkenness fell on the power cable causing a 30-minute delay in proceedings.
One of the youths was so inebriated that he slept on live power cables oblivious of the danger he was in.
Mr Trevor Ncube, of Cowdray Park said:
“I had never seen the city centre with chaotic children causing disorder and showing indiscipline. Some of them were in possession of alcohol. This shows that we are failing as parents.”
Mrs Joyce Shoko, another parent, said as parents they are to blame as they give their children money to spoil themselves.
“We as parents have to be blamed because we do not monitor how our children spend the money that we give them. Also to blame are the outlets that sell alcohol beverages to teenagers because they know that alcohol must not be sold to people under the age of 18.
“Some of these children ask adults to buy them alcohol because they know that they are not allowed to buy it. These people have caused serious damage to youths because they are the people who are responsible for teaching them that alcohol is not to be consumed by those under-age.”
When we think about alcohol abuse, we tend to think about adults, not kids experimenting. Even television shows and movies show how normal it is for teenagers to drink at parties, with friends, or just hanging out.
The truth is that teenagers are still developing physically, and are highly susceptible to developing alcohol dependence problems. We know that drinking alcohol impairs everyone’s judgment. But teenagers who drink are hit hard because the last part of the adolescent brain to develop involves areas of judgment and restraint. Alcohol can permanently affect a teen’s developing brain.
As children move from adolescence to young adulthood, they encounter dramatic physical, emotional lifestyle changes. Developmental transitions, such as puberty and increasing independence, have been associated with alcohol and drug use.
So in a sense, just being an adolescent may be a key risk factor not only for starting to drink but also for drinking dangerously.
Some take drugs; others even are beginning to abuse them. Drug abuse is the excessive addictive use of drugs for non-medicinal purposes. It also defines an emotional and sometimes physical state sometimes characterised by a compulsion to take drugs on a constant basis in order to experience its mental effects.
Drug abuse gives rise to dependence both physical and psychological. Dependence gives rise to mental, emotional, physical, social and economic instability. The effect of drug abuse on an individual therefore forms the basis for its increasing effects on society.
Looking back a couple of years, one would notice that the behaviour of youths has actually changed negatively. A couple of years ago youths were not allowed into beer gardens or to purchase any alcohol from the shops.
Youths were not even allowed to enter clubs as most clubs allowed adults who were over 21 years old but surprisingly at many clubs in the country today you find teenagers of around 13 to 17 years having the time of their life with adults aged over 21.
Most teens have the tendency of saying “It’s my life; I can do what I want.” However, some teens may use to this to cover up the fact that they do have problems or want to fit in.
Zimbabwean laws forbid children from drinking beer at a tender age. Adults are also forbidden from taking drugs like mbanje, cocaine and mandrax.
However, many still take the substances. It appears youths of today have found it difficult to have fun or socialise without taking any drugs and alcohol.
Historian and cultural activist, Mr Phathisa Nyathi said the problem of alcoholism and drugs among youths is not of their fault.
“You cannot blame the youths for drug and alcohol abuse because they mainly behave like this out of frustration.
“The main cause of this is unemployment because youths have a lot of energy but there are no places where they can direct that energy to. Thus the youths need something that pins them down.
“Society is also to blame for this behaviour of teenagers because there are no programmes that teach them on their cord of conduct. Urban re-generation programmes that were meant to teach youths different skills and keep them out of the streets have not been implemented.
“When we look back the youth did not behave like this because they had all the facilities as the economy, population figures and unemployment were not as bad as they are today. These are some of the reasons youths behave the way they do today because they have nothing to do because even at schools today there are no programmes to accommodate youths .
“The council, schools, family members and youth sectors must come together and find ways to curb this behaviour because at the end of the day they blame each other for this conduct while they did not play their part,” he said.
Reverend Paul Damasane said religion and society do not allow or disallow drinking or drunkenness.
“Religion and the society do not allow or disallow people to drink. Drinking is a temptation as one is driven to take more.
“The cause of youths starting substance abuse is that they are confronted by the challenges of adolescence as they are trying to realise themselves and usually make wrong choices.”
He said children should have good role models so that they can make right choices.
Online Reporter