Chronicle Editor
Chanete Sibanda
DRUG, alcohol and substance abuse by young people has been a hot topic of late. Young people of school going age are the prime victims of this scourge that has infiltrated our communities.
Long back, we used to think that alcohol was for the grown-ups, but these days just about anyone can drink. Schoolchildren no longer fear the dangers of indulging in intoxicating substances.
We hear in the news that police are concerned with the rising number of young people found with drugs and alcohol. Some of us attend these so-called Vuzu parties and are caught doing all the heinous acts one can think of.
In going to these Vuzu gatherings, some pupils would have tricked their parents and guardians, saying they were going to study with friends. In that deception, we as young people are fooling ourselves because we become victims. We are exposed to smoking drugs such as cannabis, commonly known as mbanje. Some go to the extent of taking in mutoriro widely known the world over as crystal meth. To worsen the effect, there is now cocaine on our streets and it is fast getting into classrooms.
Many adults will agree that on weekends, nightclubs in the city of Bulawayo are always full of school going children disguised as adults
Over and above, we as young people have to accept we are in the middle of a war. We are fighting an enemy so visible and one that we can defeat.
Seeing the many of us wasting our future on drugs is no option. Why should we allow ourselves to the gates of rehabilitation centres, yet we must be opening gates to universities, employment and entrepreneurship?
Picture this, what does it profit for a Grade 7 boy to start taking alcohol, when he could just wait until he turns 18 years of age to do so? Surely something has to give and that calls for a fight to end the scourge.
It is a fight that if we as school children unite, we can conquer. The first blame is on those who sell us these harmful substances. Young people, let us fight these drug lords by resisting their lure.
Secondly we are to blame too. Why point fingers at outside forces when the real enemy is within? The power is with us.
Are we to always blame the elders for what we take into our bodies? Changing our behaviour has to start by accepting the truth of our decaying morals as school-going children. Let’s say no to drugs and alcohol.
I know of a lot of my peers and friends who would want to taste these substances but, for what gain other than ruining our lives. We are a part of this fight.
As we wage the war against drugs and substance abuse, let us share this experience and talk.
Pointing fingers at anything to shift the blame is silly. This, I say to my fellow youngsters, let us talk the truth and shun the devil.
We all have a friend or two who goes to a Vuzu party every weekend. We have that one friend who buys a stash of drug powder now and then.
But, do we ever try to talk them out of it? It starts from there I think. Change is within. Let us seek advice from upright elders in our community.
The disturbing trend these days is that 15-year-olds who take drugs now look like they are 40.
If we come together as young people, we can end this evil deed. It takes a village to raise a child and it can take a group of young people to help other young people desist from taking drugs. It is a fight we can win. We are in a war and that battle can only end if we manage to win it. Let us fight drug, alcohol and substance abuse in schools and our communities. Every child deserves to grow up in a drug-free society.
Online Reporter