Mothers Day: Group advises mothers to be proactive against child drug abuse

An NGO, Parent-Child Intervention Center (PCIC), has advised mothers to be proactive against child drug abuse within their neighbourhoods.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NGO, Mrs Peggy Chukwuemeka, gave the advice on Friday in Enugu in a message, tagged “Mother’s Day: Mothers Must Take Full Responsibility of Children’s Mentoring’’.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2019 Mother’s Day will be commemorated in many countries, including Nigeria on Sunday, March 31.

Chukwuemeka said that mothers should beware that many factors at home can influence a child’s attitudes and propensity to use drugs.

“Among the risk factors in the home environment are psychological, physical, or sexual abuse, living with parents who abuse alcohol and other drugs, witnessing fights at home, parental neglect, parental depression or psychopathology etc.

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“Each of these factors can be modified and improvements made in the home environment and the concerted efforts of mothers can assist children to avoid drug use,’’ she said.

According to her, certainly, the entertainment world’s glorification of drugs and alcohol contributes to the curiosity in young minds that leads to drug experimentation.

“In the light of this, parents especially mothers should be proactive rather than reactive in managing children’s access to materials that glorifies drug use.

“Deciding how to censor is a personal choice for the parents; each family has its own set of values and priorities,’’ she said.

The PCIC boss, however, noted that kids would inevitably go to get ideas about drugs from somewhere, “so it is always a good idea for them to develop an understanding of the risks at home first.

“That way, when they meet tempting or unrealistic portrayals of drugs, later on, their curiosity will be checked by their knowledge,’’ she said.