PREVALENCE OF TRAUMAAND DRUG ABUSE AMONG YOUTH IN LAGOS STATE: IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNSELLING

Abstract

Drug abuse is a serious attack on Nigeria’s youth. This has been a source of concern to educational stakeholders. To this end, the study investigated the prevalence of trauma and drug abuse. The study adopted survey design with at least 7,000-target population across Shomolu Zone of Lagos State. The main purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the youth in Lagos manifest
trauma and drug abuse. The study also sought to find out from both teachers and students the method adopted by teachers in handling drug abuse. A simple random sampling technique was adopted to select 200 participants. The prevalence of trauma and drug abuse scale (PTDAS) was used to collect data for this study. Three research questions were raised and three hypotheses formulated to guide the study. The data collected were analysed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. The finding of the study revealed that trauma and drug abuse were manifested at a high degree among youth in senior secondary schools. Many teachers adopt punishment technique in handling youth with drug abuse. There is no significant difference in the perception of teachers and senior students on the manifestation of trauma and drug abuse. The implication of the findings were discussed. It was recommended that Government and private sector should continue to create job opportunities for the youth.