IMPACT OF DRUGS ON EDUCATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL

STUDENTS IN INDIA : A STUDY

DALIP KUMAR DUBEY

LL. M. Student
dalipkumardubey47@gmail.com

DILIP KUMAR
LL. M. Student
dilipkumar12394@gmail.com

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF PUNJAB, BATHINDA- 151 001 (IND)

Abstract: This study examined the effects of drug abuse on academic performance of
secondary school students in India. The study had the following objectives: To examine the
effect of drug abuse on academic performance of secondary school students and To
identify ways of addressing problems of drug abuse. Available data shows that drug abuse
among secondary school students has lead to an increase in the poor performance of students in
examination and consequent dropout rate from school due to retarded memory.
Conclusively, it is clear that there is a positive link between drug abuse and academic
performance of secondary school students. The study recommended that secondary schools in
India should as a matter of urgency set up a standard health care unit with the school counselor
within the school for proper administration and monitoring the use of drugs, particularly when
students are ill. Government should also make drug education compulsory at all levels of
education for proper fight against drug abuse in order to have a better society.

Keywords: Drug abuse, Secondary School, Academic performance, NDLEA, WHO, UN, Drug
trafficking, NCRB.

Research Objective: The goal of the study is to assess the influence of drug abuse on
academic performance of secondary school students in India. The following are the research
objectives:
● To examine the effects of drug abuse on students’ academic performance among
secondary school students.
● To recommend strategies of addressing problems of drug abuse.

Methodology: The collection of data is the most significant part of the research. I have read
some online Articles, Research papers and News papers to collect the data. Some of the incidents
I have observed like adult students who are the student of secondary education taking some kind
of drugs like cigarette, ganja, afeem etc. Use of google as well.

Introduction: Drug abuse has become a global phenomenon affecting almost every country;
though the extent, causes, effects and characteristics vary from one country to another. A drug
refers to a substance that could bring about a change in the biological function of a human
being through its chemical actions. It is also considered as a substance that modifies
perceptions, cognition, mood, behavior and general body functions. The most commonly
used and abused substances globally are cigarettes, cannabis and alcohol. Alcohol and
other related problems are becoming more and more a public health concern globally; due to
over use and indiscriminate use of drugs. Hence, the misuse of drugs is considered one of the
leading causes of preventable death; illness and injury as it impedes the peace of the world.
Commonly used substances are inhalants, heroine and cocaine. Notwithstanding, in the
context of this research, drug abuse is considered as taking overdose of a specific drug or
substance; or indiscriminate consumption of such substances capable of upsetting the biological
functioning and physiological behaviour of individuals consuming them.

Background: The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has stated that drug
abuse is a major problem in schools. For instance, approximately 20% of the school population
in India has taken a psychoactive drug once in their lives. Many of these behaviours are heavily
tied to the peer culture, as children learn from and imitate the peers. Thus, in a bid to be
attractive to others becomes very important in adolescence, and this factor is significant in the
development of eating disorders, alcohol consumption, tobacco, drug use and vulnerability to
injury, among other behaviours. Adolescents who abused substances typically do more
poorly in school, and family problems and low self-esteem appears to explain this relationship.
Parents and peers influence adolescent drinking by influencing attitude about alcohol and by
acting as role models. Secondary school students ignorantly depend on one form of drug or the
other for their various daily activities such as social, educational, political, and moral among
others, such drug include cocaine, morphine, Heroin, Alcohol, caffeine and Ganja (World Health
Organization(2003).

Impact of Drugs on Secondary School Students:- The substance abuse problem in India is not
different from other countries though there may be variations in the magnitude of the
problem. Similarly, students and youth found in the acts of drugs abuse are often times
academically and socially less developed as they are not respected and recognized to make
reasonable contribution to any development. This is because drug abuse does not only
downgrade the academic performance of students, but also affects the moral, physical and
general buildup of the secondary school students. Morally, students are otherwise disobedient
to their teachers, parents and their senior students both at school and at home as a result of drug
influence. Consequently, drug or substance abuse causes disorder characterized by the use of
behaviour-altering substance in a maladaptive pattern resulting in significant impairment or
distress. These consequences results to failure to fulfill social or occupational obligations or
recurrent use in situations in which it is physically dangerous to do so; or which end in legal
problems or behaviour modification. Drug abuse most often begins in early adolescence
stage because of socio- economic problems and cultural practices of this age group. The
sequence of usage ranges from tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other substances. Secondary
school students are increasingly engaging in prescribed drugs, particularly narcotics which
are prescribed to relieve severe pain and stimulant medications, which treat conditions like
attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy. Therefore, youths who are seen as the leaders of
tomorrow and being placed to be trained in secondary schools have swerved to the use of drugs.
This act in no way contributes to the development of the students and the expected output of
these students can greatly diminish their academic performances because of their tenacity to
drug addiction.

National Centre For Drug Abuse Prevention: Drug (substance) abuse has become a
worldwide menace. No part of the world is free from the curse of drug addiction. Drug abuse has
emerged as a serious concern, adversely affecting the physical and socio-economic well-being of
the country. It has enormous presence on public health across various sections of society. The
epidemic of drug abuse in younger generation has assumed alarming dimensions in India. The
stress and strain of the modern-day life has rendered the individual more vulnerable to the
problem of substance abuse. Addiction to alcohol/drugs not only affects the individual involved,
but also the family and society at large. Recognising the seriousness of the multi-faceted
implications of the incidence of substance abuse in the country, the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment has been implementing the scheme of prevention of alcoholism and substance
abuse through the National Action Plan on Drug Demand Reduction. It provides a host of
services, including awareness generation, counseling, treatment and rehabilitation of dependents
(addicts). The programme emphasizes on a community-based prevention approach through
educational programmes and services for drug dependent persons and their caregivers.

Involvement of teenagers in drug abuse amd juvenile: In the last decade, there has been a 74
per cent rise in overall cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
In the same period, the number of cases involving juveniles has more than doubled. However,
what is alarming is the fact that drug cases involving children and adolescents have also
registered a spike in the last 10 years.As against 74 per cent rise in overall cases in the last
decade under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the number of such
cases involving juveniles has more than doubled in the same period, albeit from a low base.What
is equally disconcerting is the rise in the number of children taking illicit drugs. According to
reliable estimates, more than 40 lakh children consumed opioids, while 30 lakh consumed
alcohol and inhalants. That was in 2018. The number may have gone up since.
In September 2020, the government had informed Parliament that the most widely used drugs
among juveniles are opioids. Opium, morphine, heroin, smack and poppy husk fall under this
category. Alcohol and inhalants follow opioids in the list of most consumed drugs among
juveniles. Juvenile cases registered under NDPS Act rose 21 per cent on-year to 264 in the
pandemic year 2020. The number of registered juvenile cases under NDPS Act was 123 in 2015
and 82 in 2010, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. The government has launched
Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (NMBA) in 272 vulnerable districts with an aim to create
awareness about the ill-effects of substance abuse among the youth, with special focus on higher
education institutes, university campuses and schools.Besides juveniles, the overall registered
cases under the NDPS Act have also shot up in the last decade. Total cases rose by 74 per cent in
the decade ending 2020 over the decade ending 2010.

Findings:The use of drugs could be beneficial or harmful depending on the mode of use. The
incidence of drugs abuse affects the academic performance of secondary school students
through a variety of ways like heart and liver disease, among others. To this end, crime rate,
which is related to drug abuse, has escalated to levels that are very disturbing. We have
witnessed numerous behaviour disorders and social mal-adjustments among the youth who
engage in acts such as rape, murder, theft, thuggery among others. The culprits of these
criminal acts turn out to be very much among young people who have just entered secondary
schools. These abused drugs and other substances, affects them academically, psychologically
and socially, at times they are expelled from school and they turn up to be delinquents and
join street life. The problems have spread its tentacles to all nook and crannies of Indian
society. The youths are roaming the streets with mental problems, dropping out of schools,
wallowing in hospital wards, convicted and incarcerated. The menace of drug abuse has eaten
deep into the fabrics of our society with no effective counseling programme in our secondary
schools to tackle the problem headlong. As a scourge of moral degradation and societal
instability, the efforts by the Government, corporate organizations and the public to ameliorate
the menace are futile, rather it has become a pandemic.

Suggestions: The need to invest in preventive strategies is therefore needed, rather than the
prevailing curative approach whose impact is hardly felt. In addition, data on the trends of
substance abuse and outcomes of addiction among secondary school students remain largely
un-documented in India. Therefore, need to seek information to contribute to this knowledge
gap, through focusing on establishing the effects of substance or drug abuse on academic
performance of secondary school students in local area of Indian societies.

Conclusion: Based on the research findings it was clear that there is a strong link between drug
abuse and the Academic performance of secondary school students in India. To this end, during
International day against drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking of 26th June, 1988, the then
United Nations‘ Secretary General, Javier Peres de Cuellar, noted that drug and drug trafficking
had already claimed millions of lives, weakened national economies, undermined the
integrity and stability of governments and endangered the human society as a whole. He
remarked that the dimensions of such a crisis were painfully clear and that drug related crimes
had reached alarming proportions. In such a global epidemic, he concluded, all nations were
vulnerable (United Nations, 1988). Drug abuse is indeed a menace in secondary schools in
India. Today, we are living in the days of advanced technology, days of drug proliferation, when
various drugs are introduced into the society sometimes unchecked by various government
agencies.

Reference :-
● National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (2014). Drug data collection and research,
Lagos:
● Drug Demand Reduction Unit. National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (1997): Stages
and effects of drug abuse
● United Nations, "Report of the United Nations Secretariat. Drug Abuse: Extent, Patterns
and Trends",
● Prepared for the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, thirty-seventh session, Vienna, 13-22
April 1994. (E/CN.7/1994/4, 21)
● United Nations. (1988). World Drug Report. New York. United Nations. (2003).
● World Drug Report. New York. WHO, (2003), Report on Substance Abuse, Deaths
Related to Drug Abuse.