Addiction Among Students -By Hafsat Sanusi Tsafe

Addiction is the inability to stop using a substance or engaging in a behavior even though it is causing psychological and physical harm. People with addiction, use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite the harmful effects involved. Government, private organizations and all other relevant stake holders have been expressing worries and apprehension by mere looking at the rate of addiction among the younger generation. This addiction comes in different forms. Hence, we will be precise on the ones that are common among students.

Nigerian students ranging from Primary, Secondary to Tertiary institutions are exposed to different forms of addictions which have now continued to exert negative effects on their academic and general well-being.

Chemical addiction is the common kind of addiction that involves the use of substances. This can be tricky to talk about because there’s often confusion around what constitutes substances misuse, dependency and addiction.

Students nowadays abuse substances like alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines etc. The use of cigarettes, indian hemp, shisha, smoke or inhalers are also among the commonest substances of addiction among students. In many occasions, students have been caught, punished or expelled from schools as a result of chemical use.

Social media addiction, happened to be the second on the list. This involves the excessive use of social media platforms such as Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Telegram etc. Students use these social media platforms without regards to proper time management. They smuggle phones to school and browse their favorite sites and platforms even when lessons are going on. They spend more time at home on social media, neglecting their home work or assignments. These students use social media day and night, forgetting the need for their extensive studies at home.

Thirdly, there is also addiction to sports and video games. Recently, a report released by the World Health Organization has cautioned that addiction to video games is among the leading causes of stress, anxiety and depression among the youths. However, in Nigeria today, a large number of students is already addicted to these video games. Many are also addicted to sporting activities such as football and the rest. Students nowadays will rather play football or video games instead of paying attention to their studies. Sports and games have infact dominated the lives of many students so much that they begin to treat their other aspects of life with utmost contempt. This form of addiction is evident in the more number of football viewing centers, football fields and stadia.

In light of the above, many of those found with substance addiction have significantly shown adverse effect on their academic performance, social interactions as well as their physical and psychological fitness. Therefore, addiction is gradually becoming disease, eating deep into the fabrics of our educational system in Nigeria. Poor performances in school internal and external examinations, increasing number of school drop outs and half baked graduates are among the devastating effects of this social media addiction which we are currently witnessing in our society.

In conclusion, our governments, parents, schools, community leaders and all other relevant stake holders must work together inorder to provide lasting solutions to these forms of addiction among students if we are to salvage our educational sector as well as the future generations. It is my ardent hope that this article reaches the eyes and ears of all and sundry.

Hafsat Sanusi Tsafe wrote from Zabib College.