The alarming rise in drug addiction among the youth
By: Shahid-Ul-Islam
A rapid increase in cases of drug addiction among the young boys and girls has emerged as a serious social problem as youth continue to fall prey to drug abuse at an accelerated pace. Those who should beon the forefront of building the nationare unfortunately becoming victims of drugs and thus not only spoiling their own lives but also of their families and loved ones.
The parents can’t escape the blame in such a scenario. Hazrat Ali (RA) said: “Surely the heart of the youth is like the uncultivated ground- it will accept whatever you throw upon it (and that is what will grow from it).” In the backdrop of this wise saying, youth taking to drugs is a question mark on us as a society. There is something wrong within the society. There is a Need to find out what makes our youth to choose this path and why they are doing so. As per the analysis the youths who failed in their relationships are becoming the epicenter of drug consumption, some people suggest unemployment, as the main cause. But unemployment is a world-wide phenomenon but not everywhere the unemployed youth take to drug substance. Primarily it is the responsibility of the family to mentor their wards to go in a right direction. For that, parents need to have extra communication with their children. Of late, one could say without any fear of contradiction, that parents are too busy with their own affairs that they don’t spare even a minute to sit with their children, listen to them and try to understand them and that is why the children look elsewhere for such kind of a support and sometimes, in this quest, fall in bad company. It is therefore responsibility of the parents to develop friendly relations with their children and be there to share their frustrations.
Every religion teaches that the parents should develop a friendly relationship with their wards & should not act like the Spurendents, & parents should not use the pressure & not some other ways to teach their childrens what is right & what is wrong, parents should always use the way of friend for mentoring their wards.
Youth is an important resource for social, political and economic advancement of a society. The youth is the future of parents as well as the future of his country so he/she must shall be influenced with the good manners & shall be injucted with several good qualities. They have the capacity to foster the social cohesiveness by serving as a link between very societal groups.
A country cannot prosper without the contribution of every citizen, youth being the most important component. The youth should seize possibilities in all areas of the nation’s advancement and development, Tomorrow’s leaders would be from amongst the pool of young people, thus it will be upto the youth to use everything they have learned and experienced to grow as individuals. One must accept responsibility for the knowledge already acquired and determine the extent to which knowledge has been utilized.
There is a need to promote and practice a growing entrepreneurial culture among the youth. The social media and technology can also be best utilized by youth to stay focused and explore opportunities for their future.
On its part, the law enforcement agencies should launch a sustained crackdown on drug traffickers to ensure that the deadly substances and no longer in circulation. Though almost everyday police comes out with statements wherein they confirm to have arrested some drug peddlers and confiscated some substance, the very fact that it is happening every day indicates that there is some flaw in counter drug operation. The authorities need to take this issue very seriously and ensure that none within the ranks is involved in aiding and abetting this nefarious business.
That said, the religious leaders, instead of creating unnecessary controversies during their sermons, should focus on these issues. They should speak frequently about ills of using drugs and explain to the youth how such a ghastlysocial evil has been condemned by Islam.
The writer is a student of law at Kashmir University
