Kids Who Get High

The availability of harmful drugs is a problem with a disproportionate impact on adolescents and presents significant challenges for schools seeking to safeguard students from the physical and psychological damage drug use can cause.  Drugs have penetrated in many well-known schools across the country and there are children who double up as peddlers to finance their addiction. 바카라�Many school kids who use drugs come to me for counselling sessions as that is the first step to recovery,바카라� says Mumbai-based psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty. 바카라�The most commonly used drug is cannabis as it is the cheapest. A 14-year-old boy was brought to me by his parents, who said he had once broken a glass door with his hand. He was a topper and was an excellent sportsperson. I got a urine test done. The parents were shocked on learning that their son was taking drugs. Kids are often spotted socialising with weed (cannabis) after a game of football and cricket. It is mainly the older kids who introduce the younger ones to this habit.바카라�

Alka Kapur, principal of Modern Public School in Delhi바카라�s Shalimar Bagh, says: 바카라�We depute teachers around the school premises during arrival and ­dispersal timings of children, to keep an eye on strangers who might be drug peddlers.바카라� According to Mumbai-based psychologist Seema Hingorrany, kids from dysfunctional and broken families have a 바카라�tendency to get addicted to drugs because they feel drugs can numb them to pain and give them entry into a 바카라�cool바카라� peer group바카라�. 바카라�They eventually get addicted to it. Awareness on the ­harmful effects of these drugs is important for our teenagers and we need to tell them what drugs do to their body and mind,바카라� she adds.

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Talking about how awareness workshops are conducted in schools, psychiatrist Dr Avinash De Sousa says: 바카라�We conduct the worshops for classes 8-10.  We talk to the students about various kinds of drugs and people who may lure them to take drugs. Sometimes we get somebody who was on drugs and has now recovered from addiction.바카라�

Psychiatrists can help in first diagnosing the nature and severity of the problem. They need to identify whether it is just adolescent experimentation or a substance abuse problem. In the latter case, depending on the drug used, the children will have to go through detoxification, followed by medication, counselling and psychotherapy. In the former case, they will need just counselling and sometimes a little medication.

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South Mumbai resident Shweta Rao never knew her daughter would start smoking weed regularly when she went to a college in Pune. 바카라�For my daughter, it all started with experimentation, but thank god she is out of it now,바카라� she says. 바카라�Drug users feel drugs make them creative and help them think better. They start with weed, then move on to cocaine and other drugs. Before they realise it, their mental health gets affected. I made my daughter understand that nobody can control another person바카라�s addiction, and she would have to take charge of her life. She attended a few sessions of Narcotics Anonymous, went through the 12 steps and then decided to quit.바카라�

바카라�There was a case of a high school boy who took drugs because he felt helpless seeing violent fights between his parents,바카라� says De Sousa. 바카라�His father was an alcoholic. The kid was introduced to cannabis by his friends, who told him it would help him relax be able to perform better in academics. He eventually ­became dependent on it.바카라�

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바카라�It starts more because of curiosity,바카라� says Mumbai-based psychiatrist Dr Anjali Chhabria. 바카라�A highly intelligent kid who is curious or kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more vulnerable. A lot of these substances relieve anxiety and that바카라�s why kids get hooked to them. They also use these substances to 바카라�chill바카라� together. A lot of them stop after a few experiments and some use it only to ­socialise, but quite a few get habituated. When such kids are brought for their sessions by their parents, they are ­resistant because they think they would be put in a rehab. But the psychiatrist assesses each case, finds out how it began바카라�is it an untreated ADHD, is there anxiety or peer pressure, or other issues that the child is dealing with such as body image or depression? Once the primary cause is treated, then the need for the substance is eliminated. But, sometimes, if the kid is on hard drugs over a long period of time, then there could be physiological ­withdrawal, which makes medication and hospitalisation necessary.바카라�

Often, children become addicted to drugs as a coping mechanism due to the stress and mental pressure they face in their lives. 바카라�Besides ensuring that they do not have access to drugs, we also pay attention towards ensuring that the ­students do not suffer from undiagnosed mental illnesses like stress, anxiety and depression,바카라� says Kapur of Modern Public School. 바카라�We stay in touch with the students through a 24X7 helpline (Muskaraahat), where they talk freely about the mental or personal issues plaguing them. This gives them a platform to vent their emotions and confide in the mentors to remain stress-free and lead a happy, healthy life.바카라�

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The students at Modern Public School also sign pledges that they won바카라�t use drugs. Regular visits to rehab centres are also organised for students. 바카라�There are regular counselling sessions with parents when we see any child not ­performing well or in stress,바카라� Kapur says. 바카라�Motivational videos are shown to students during the assembly. 바카라�Humanity Curriculum바카라�, a special ­feature of our school curriculum, ­focusses on inculcating values in students to keep them at bay from vices.바카라�

At Heritage Xperiential Learning School, there is a well-developed Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, through which a wide range of social ­issues, including use of drugs, are ­addressed. 바카라�We believe that when ­students have responsible adults they can open up to, they are less likely to ­indulge in harmful substances,바카라� says Neena Kaul, the principal. 바카라�The SEL curriculum encourages students to openly discuss the challenges they face, and helps them to navigate the often complicated and challenging landscape of adolescence. The curriculum also creates an atmosphere of trust between students and teachers so an open channel of communication is always available.바카라�

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