Should education about illegal drugs and consequences be included in curriculum for early adults?
An effective curriculum is said to increase students’ understanding about the world around them and prepares them to live in the 21st century. A well-crafted curriculum should not be an isolated signpost for a single academic year. Instead, it should be constantly re-crafted to create awareness among the students about the current social and economic risks apart from instilling complex ideas and mathematical reasoning including problem solving abilities in them.
Substance use among teens/early adults has now become an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and is a substantial concern. According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, at least 10 million young people (ages 12 to 29) are in need of substance abuse treatment. Among the millions, only 1 in 10 adolescents who have a substance use disorder actually receive the professional treatment they deserve. Some of the most commonly abused drugs are marijuana, cocaine, crack, opioids (including heroin), LSD, ecstasy, and methamphetamine. Research shows shocking statistics in teen substance abuse, emphasising the prominence of drugs in early adulthood.
It is a growing concern across the world that is bound to effect the economies at large with at least 30% of the youth growing incapacitated every year (in major economies), because of substance abuse induced mental health problems, including depression, conduct problems, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, and suicide. With 86%being the percentage of teenagers that knows someone who smokes, drinks or uses drugs during the school day. 50% is the percentage of teenagers who have misused a drug at least once in their lifetime. 43% is the percentage of college students who use illicit drugs.
How education about illegal drugs and consequences help youth?
Everyday hundreds of teens initiate drug use, each year hundreds of teens are reported having diagnosed with a substance use disorders. It is not necessarily because teenagers truly intend this risky behaviour. Rather it is their ignorance of the consequences. In adolescents, dopamine levels are only baseline, thus explaining their constant boredom and need to try new things. A compulsion to act out, to experiment, trying to claim a social status among their peers.
The reasoning power that is immense during the pre-teen years is pruned back as they reach adolescence, making the prefrontal cortex (the part that controls our ability to make thoughtful, responsible decisions) less active during early adulthood. As a result, most early adults involve in risk taking behaviours including substance/alcohol use. It is their impulsive behaviour suggesting that consequences do not really matter, posing a great threat for early drug and alcohol addiction.
Including education about illicit drug related issues and consequences in the school curriculum for early adults can act as a counterbalance in shaping and standardising the culture of safety, moderation, and informed decision making. Education about illicit drugs and their consequences empowers early adults to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to stay away from health wrecking mood altering substances and to appreciate the benefits of living healthily.
Education plays a vital role in eradicating drug menace in early adults by promoting responsibility towards the use of drugs and relate these to their own actions and those of others around them. The awareness in identifying the people who try to influence them with illicit drugs or the non-medical use of pharmaceutical medications, comes a long way in increasing teens’ knowledge of the risks associated with specific drugs. This may include short-term risks such as overdose or longer-term issues associated with dependence.
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