Drug Use as A Leading Cause of Poor Academic Performance Among College Students

Preventing College Students from Drug Usage
Solutions
Prevention of substance abuse in college is frequently discussed and researched and this makes it vital that many colleges implement multiple preventive strategies to determine the one that works. The first one is the education of college students on the impact of drugs and their academic performance. Students must be informed of the negative effects that drug use has on their body and their academic performance (Abelman 4). This will assist the students to make informed decisions about their drug consumption. The college should have drug prevention programs that are targeted towards new college students and those who are most prone to drug abuse (Califano 1). These programs will demonstrate to the college students the negative effects of drug use not only on their academic performance but also on their lives as well (Abelman 5). While it might seem the programs are scaring the students, it is better if the students have all the information rather than them not having any information at all. With education, students can choose to avoid using drugs or over-consuming alcohol.
The second one would be lecturer training programs. These are programs targeted at lecturers who are teaching in colleges. The programs will educate the lecturers on the methods that can incorporate into their classes when they notice that students have poor academic performance and they suspect it could be caused by drug usage (Cadigan et al. 386). Lecturers are in a better place to notice how students behave when they are in class and this would be a good avenue for them to identify and report this to a counselor. However, in most instances, the lecturers have not been trained to identify the signs of drug use amongst the students and they will most times let it slide if a student is not paying attention or is disoriented in class. The training programs will equip the lecturers with ample information that will give them the knowhow to identify a drug-related problem early, which can be beneficial to the student. Lecturers should also be encouraged to be actively involved with their students, which will make it easy for them to identify when a student has a problem. Academic performance can be noted early and corrective measures are undertaken (Dennis).
The third one would be counseling. Many college students feel like they have gained some sort of freedom when they begin college and they will be easily influenced by their peers and this is how most college students begin using drugs. While not all of them will maintain the habit, the few who have will have their academic performance dropping. Most colleges do have counselors on-site to deal with any psychological issues that college students are faced with. Poor academic performance should be a concern for the lecturers and counselors and they must determine the root cause (Cadigan et al. 388). Most students will not be willing to admit that they have a drug problem for fear of repercussions. Therefore, the counselor should show them that they are in a safe place and whatever is shared will not affect their college admissions. The counselor should then work on modalities that will help the student to kick the habit, and only in dire circumstances should the student be reported to the administrators. Dire circumstances include the student continuously refusing to follow instructions given by the counselor.
These solutions are effective as they aim at curbing the drug problem early and this will ensure that the students do not begin taking or using drugs. Prevention is always better than cure, and by implementing the education program the college would be working towards teaching the new students the dangers of drugs and how this will affect their performance (Dennis). Without this information, most students will be using drugs and they will lose focus on what is vital when they are in college and this is their education. Lecturer training is aimed at arming the lecturers with the knowledge they need to identify students who might be having a drug problem. This strategy will go hand in hand with that of a counselor, who is charged with training and encouraging the students to kick their bad habit. Lecturers are better placed to identify when a student's performance is dropping and actin can be taken early to rectify whatever might be ailing the student.
References
Abelman, Dor David. "Mitigating Risks of Students Use of Study Drugs through Understanding Motivations for Use and Applying Harm Reduction Theory: A Literature Review." Harm reduction journal 14.1 (2017): 68. Print.
Cadigan, Jennifer M, et al. "Patterns of Alcohol Use and Marijuana Use among Students at 2-and 4-Year Institutions." Journal of American college health 67.4 (2019): 383-90. Print.
Califano, Joseph A. "Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Alcohol and Drug Abuse on College Campuses." 2007. Web.
Dennis, Dr. Kim. "Recognizing, Understanding and Combatting Alcohol & Drug Abuse on Campus." n.d. Web.