As parts of efforts to eradicate drug abuse among Nigerian youths, various experts and stakeholders have emphasized the need of the greater roles to be played by parents in ensuring that their children are dissuaded from consumption of illicit drugs.
This declaration was made by speakers at the lecture organised by the All Youth Reoriented Initiative to mark this year’s edition of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Speaking at the lecture with the theme: “Effect of Drug Abuse, Who Suffers Most? The Society or The User” which was organized on weekend in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the lecturers commended the organizer of the lecture saying it was timely and necessary.
Speaking at the occasion on “Mental Health” the Deputy Director, Addiction Theraphist, at the Neuro- Psychiatric Hospital, Aro – Abeokuta, Dr Solomon Abiodun said parents should not follow the old training method of bullying their children but they should draw them nearer and counsel them on the danger of the drug abuse.
“We need to warn the parents themselves against drug abuse. What you don’t have, you don’t give.
There are some parents themselves that are using drugs. So if you are using drug as a parent, what message do you want to give to your children, it won’t be meaningful.
“So the fight against drug abuse starts from the parents. Let them first know the consequences of their actions. If they know the consequences of their actions, they will stop and they will be able to educate their children on the evil of drug abuse.
“Some parents want to train their children, the way their parents trained them.They should note that, this generation is quite different. In those days, children were bullied to toe the right path, but if you bully any child now, you sends him away. Parents need to do everything possible to draw their children closer, so that whatever they are telling them, they will be able to internalise it. Doing otherwise will lead to a terrible error.
So we implore the parents to do more of advocacy of taking away of drugs from our society”, Dr Abiodun said.
Also speaking on a topic, “Dealing with Drug Abuse” a Staff Officer, Drug Demand Reduction, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), Ogun State Command, Sarah Afolabi urges parents to keep watch over their children, saying they should not leave their children for school teachers alone, urging parents to create good and positive environment for their children.
“This will make your children to be your friends, unnecessary pressure from some parents make some children to take to drugs and join bad gangs. Parents must be there to support their children. Education begins from home. It is the habit of the home that children carry to school.
“Parents should therefore pay attention to the attitudes of their children and stop shifting responsibility. They should know that the children are vulnerable, so their attitudes and actions should be monitored constantly”, Afolabi counselled.”