Substance use among township secondary school students - an emergent phenomenon

Despite widespread concern taking the form of condemnation and education about the danger associated with substance use and abuse by students, this threat has not significantly abated. Numerous students still succumb to the allure and destructiveness of inter alia liquor, smoking, sniffing and drugs. This article examines substance use among students by means of a literature study and a questionnaire. The questionnaire obtained the views of the township secondary school students regarding the prevalence of substance use, usual times for substance use, the period of initial and later use, factors influencing students to use substances and the relationships between age and gender and substance use. The study found that the family, peers, community, school and media advertisements exert powerful influence on the students, which has resulted in a considerable number of them using substances. The study concludes with recommendations on how to address the problem.