Factors Contributing To Drug Abuse Among Students In Public Secondary Schools In Tanzania: The Case Of Arusha Municipality

ABSTRACT

This study investigated factors which contribute to drug abuse among students in secondary schools around Arusha Municipality. The study was mainly qualitative, involving descriptive survey research design and supported by the quantitative approach. Using both stratified random and purposive sampling procedures, a sample size of 233 respondents was used. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically and presented through descriptions and quotations while the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel Software were used to analyze the quantitative data and present the findings through tables and charts. The study established that students enormously abused alcohol, tobacco/cigarettes, miraa/mirungi and bhangi and, consequently, students who abused drugs displayed indiscipline behavior at school. Causes of drug abuse are mainly the influence of socialization, i.e. family relations, type of friends, peer pressure and identity and imitation from parents who use drugs. The study recommends that an awareness programme should be organized in secondary schools and in the media to educate students on the effects of drug use, authorities should put in place severe disciplinary measures on students who use these drugs, parents and guardians to be in the front in the upbringing of their children and not totally delegating the parenting role to teachers, to equip all teachers with knowledge of how to deal with drug use cases in schools and the society should re-evaluate its values and morals, especially in regard to how we treat and recuperate persons involved in drugs.