We may have a national emergency on our hands!

Jul 02, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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(Kaieteur News) – The figures released recently by Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony should cause every parent, teacher and policymaker in Guyana to sit up and pay attention. If the numbers are accurate, they point to a problem that is far more serious than many of us imagined.

According to the Minister, 43% of the 6,039 secondary school students surveyed admitted to consuming alcohol. Another 32% said they vape, while 5% admitted to using cannabis.

When those figures are looked at together, they create a deeply troubling picture. They suggest that a very large proportion of our secondary school population is involved in some form of substance use.

If these findings are validated, they should trigger a national conversation of the highest urgency. Indeed, one could argue that the situation would warrant emergency measures within the school system itself.

Such levels of substance use would not merely be a school problem. They would raise uncomfortable questions about supervision at home, peer influences, social attitudes and the effectiveness of existing prevention programmes.

Before we rush to conclusions, however, there is another important issue that deserves attention. It is called desirability bias.

Desirability bias occurs when people answer survey questions in ways they believe will make them look good, popular or socially accepted. Sometimes respondents exaggerate behaviours because they think those behaviours are fashionable or admired by their peers.

This tendency is especially common among teenagers. Adolescence is a period when fitting in often seems more important than telling the complete truth.

A student may claim to have consumed alcohol because friends view drinking as a sign of maturity. Another may report vaping because it is seen as trendy, even if he or she has never actually touched a vape.

The result is that surveys can sometimes overstate the prevalence of certain behaviours. Researchers around the world have long recognized this challenge when studying sensitive issues involving young people.

That does not mean the survey is wrong. It simply means that every serious survey should be examined carefully to determine whether the results accurately reflect reality.

Questions therefore need to be asked about the methodology used. How were the students selected, what questions were posed, how were they phrased and under what conditions were the responses collected?

Were students assured that their answers would remain confidential? Were there safeguards to reduce the temptation to exaggerate or provide answers that would impress classmates?

These are not criticisms of the survey. They are standard questions that should accompany any research project whose findings have significant policy implications.

The Ministry of Health should therefore be encouraged to publish additional details about the methodology. Independent scrutiny can only strengthen public confidence in the results.

Yet even if desirability bias played some role, there is another reality that cannot be ignored. The numbers would still remain frighteningly high.

After all, thousands of students were willing to tell surveyors that they consume alcohol, vape or use cannabis. Even if some exaggeration exists, the level of admission itself is cause for concern.

In previous generations, many students might have been reluctant to admit such behaviour. Today, some appear comfortable enough to acknowledge it openly.

That shift alone tells us something important. It suggests that attitudes toward substance use may be changing among sections of our youth.

The Minister is therefore correct to emphasize prevention. Waiting until addiction develops is far more costly than preventing harmful behaviour in the first place.

Schools have a role to play in educating students about the dangers of alcohol, vaping and drugs. Parents, however, remain the first and most important line of defence.

Children spend only part of their day in school. The values they develop are shaped largely by what they see and experience at home.

Community organisations, religious bodies and youth groups also have responsibilities. Building resilience among young people requires the involvement of the entire society.

It is encouraging that efforts are being made to strengthen treatment services through partnerships such as the one announced with Mount Sinai Hospital. Treatment capacity is important because some young people will inevitably require professional help.

But treatment alone will not solve the problem. The greatest success will come from preventing substance abuse before it begins.

For that reason, the survey should neither be dismissed nor accepted uncritically. It should be carefully validated and its methodology thoroughly scrutinized.

If further examination confirms these findings, then Guyana is facing a challenge of enormous proportions. We would be looking at the emergence of a generation increasingly exposed to alcohol, vaping and drugs during some of the most formative years of their lives.

That is not a future any society should accept lightly. It is a warning signal that deserves serious attention, careful analysis and decisive action.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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• Dr. Frank Anthony, national emergency, Peeping Tom, policymaker

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