| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to determine the social factors influencing drug and substance abuse among secondary school students ofManya1ta Division Embu North District, Eastern province Kenya. Drug abuse is a major concern not only in Kenya but also in the entire world. Studies done in Kenya show that drug abuse is rampant in secondary schools but they have not dealt with social factors influencing drug and substance abuse among students which this study attempted to examine. There were four objectives that guided this study; to examine the extent to which parental care, peer pressure, community influence and easy availability of dugs influences students drug and subatance abuse.
The researcher used qualitative survey techniques, which utilized questionnaires and interviews as the main tools of data collection. The study targeted secondary schools in Manyatta Division Embu North District, G/C teachers, students and parents. Simple random and simple stratified random sampling was used to select the sample size. Research authorization was obtained from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Data was analyzed using inferential and descriptive techniques, and utilized SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences).
The findings of this study showed that Majority of the students 65.9% of the respondents got access to drugs such as alcohol, miraaikhat, tobacco and bhang by buying, 54.2% being from day secondary schools and 13.5% from boarding schools. Drugs commonly found at home and community were alcohol, miraalkhat, tobacco and bhang following in this order, 52 of the respondents had taken alcohol once in a life time, 26 had tasted miraa (khat), 23 had tasted tobacco and only 9 had a puff of bhang.
The study showed that more males than females' students had taken drugs. At location level, Ngandori East Location had the highest number of students taking drugs, followed by Gaturi North, Ngandori west, Ruguru, Kathangariri and Mbuvori. In relation to school categories Day Secondary school students were more involved in drugs than boarding schools. Of the four objectives this ,study revealed that peer pressure, easy availability of drugs, community influence and lack of parental care contributed to their drug and substance abuse.
This study recommends the need for MOE to equip schools with trained G/C teachers, equip students with life skills and recommends parents to be role models. It also suggests research on challenges facing boy child in society and the role of parents in moulding children. | en_US |
