WE ARE LOSING OUR CHILDREN

Sep 24, 2018 Editorial

In Guyana, parents are under all sorts of pressure to protect their children. Children are also under tremendous pressure to stay in school, resist joining gangs and commit crimes and the use of drugs, especially marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy, among others. However, it is sad to say but it is true that many children are being abused physically, sexually and otherwise. Others are committing murders as is allegedly the case of the two teens from Buxton, East Coast Demerara who are accused of murdering 72-year-old Krishnachand Dabee, a pensioner from Annandale, East Coast of Demerara.
But there are much bigger problems facing our children. Recent reports in this and other media outlets have revealed that the HIV/AIDS virus is rapidly increasing among adolescents. Some blame the increase on poor parenting, poor family structures and single parent homes. Others have placed the problem on the use of more illegal and non-prescription drugs that are easily available. While it is heartbreaking to read about the increase use of drugs by teens, it is more upsetting that illegal drugs are being sold in schools. The discovery of ecstasy which is known to be readily available at many night clubs and parties has now found its way into schools.
This is certainly a new and worrying trend for the country. It shows that we are losing our children at a very young age to drugs. This has been confirmed by the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, who said, to see drugs such as ecstasy in schools means that we are losing the battle to keep children safe. It is a bad thing. The Public Security Minister has pleaded with parents, religious institutions and communities to assist law enforcement agencies in the fight against the sale of illegal drugs to children. He appealed to parents and all in society to be more caring and to be involved in their children’s lives and stop becoming too individualistic. As a nation, we have already lost many children to crime and violence and all sorts of assaults and unless this issue is dealt with very seriously by the authority, it is likely to get worse.
This should be a wake-up call for the authority and parents to fight for children, who are under all sorts of assaults, physical, sexual and otherwise. But parents and governments alone cannot do it, all in society must be involved. Communities, organisations, both civil and political, the business sector and religious groups such as churches, mosques, and temples must fight to keep children safe. It is a battle that must be won, but much more needs to be done to ensure that families are more economically and socially grounded and be spirited in their struggle to save their children.
Briefly, ecstasy is an illegal synthetic drug that is sometimes referred to as ‘molly’ or the ‘pill.’ It is a stimulant and it affects persons differently based on their size, weight, health, the amount taken and what other substance is taken with it. Ecstasy is a psychoactive drug that is used primarily as a recreational drug. It induces feelings of increased empathy, increased energy levels, euphoria, a distorted perception of time and heightened sensations of touch due mainly to the drug being a combination of s stimulant and a hallucinogen. It is a date rape drug because it incapacitates the persons whom it is administered to and renders them vulnerable to sexual assault, including rape.

While the recent discovery of ecstasy in five schools is alarming, it is not new. A survey conducted by the Organization of American States in several high schools in Guyana in 2013 found that there was an increase use of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy compared to a previous survey in 2007. Health experts have asserted that the problem is about not only the production, supply and consumption of drugs, but the major issue is the effect of the drugs on people’s behaviour that makes them a danger to others in society

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