12-YEAR-OLD DRUG ADDICTS

MY memories of my early teenage years have always been of playing
basketball with my classmates, swimming with my cousins or just spending
lazy Saturday afternoons at our house playing Street Fighter II with my
neighbors.

So it really came as a shock to me when I visited Baguio a few weeks back
and realized that in such a short span of time, the things that teenagers
do for leisure or fun had changed radically.

It happened when I visited one of the public high schools in the area and
met with the assistant principal. At first, we talked about the same old
problems--lack of textbooks, lack of classrooms, inadequate facilities and
the perennial problem of teachers earning very low wages.

After chatting about these things, I asked if there were any cases of petty
crimes committed in the school and this is where it got very interesting.
He mentioned that one night last July, a group of students broke into
principal's office and took two computers and the television set. I was
perplexed when I heard about this crime; I couldn't believe a group of 14-
to 15-year-old teenagers would be capable of breaking in the school and
stealing expensive pieces of equipment.

But the worst was yet to come. When pressed for a reason for the theft, the
assistant principal only shook his head and said, "Drugs."

The following week after the theft, he said several third-year high school
students were caught selling drugs to some freshmen just barely into their
teens.

This sad experience in Baguio was my first real awakening to the problem of
illegal drugs in our country. Although I had heard from friends about
taking drugs during parties and other social functions, never in my wildest
dreams did it occur to me that there would come a time when 12-year-old
kids would become drug addicts.

Returning to Manila, I resolved to learn more about this growing drug
menace in our schools. I talked to several principals and several confirmed
that indeed illegal drugs had already penetrated their schools. They said
that drugs such as marijuana are being pitched to students as an escape
from the problems that they face in school and at home. Another principal
pointed out that the environment where his school is located also
contributes to the problem since some pushers peddle their wares just
outside the school gates or through so-called student-agents inside the school.

Yet, what really bothered me while listening to these principals was the
seemingly indifferent attitude some of them had to the problem. For them,
it seemed already normal that some students were either habitual drug users
or worse, drug pushers. They said that the problem is really too big to
handle and to resolve since it would entail unmasking and prosecuting
so-called untouchables in their communities that may cause undue peril to
their lives.

Hearing this made me want to take the next plane out of the country and
migrate. How can we look forward to a brighter future if our youth is
corrupted by drugs at such an early age? Most of us know that drugs is not
really a problem in itself but is the root cause of a lot of societal
problems that currently beset our country like the increasing crime rate
and the steady breakdown of the Filipino family. A lot of Filipino families
have been shattered due to drugs and this often leads to more problems in
our society. Some individuals who come from a miserable family background
begin to seek solace in drugs and the never-ending cycle continues.

The problem of drugs is growing at an alarming rate, yet again we still
hold on to the hope that if we act soon enough, we may still be able to
save our children. Our government leaders should have the political will to
put an end to this problem quickly and decisively by jailing those
officials who continue to coddle and protect drug pushers.

However, I believe that this problem cannot be solved by our government
alone. Like school, the role of parents in molding their children's values
at home is very essential. The best weapon one can give a child to fight
the temptation of illegal drugs and other vices in society is always a
God-centered and close-knit family. In the end, our foundation for a strong
republic rests solely on the foundations and values of our own families.

Today, let us do our own share in nationbuilding by spending quality time
with our families and by showing them how important they are to us.