Education Guide

This week, when I joined the campaign of the Ministry of Health, via Twitter Never Try CrackI began to remember the children who passed through my life as a journalist and have profoundly marked the long years of reporting. There were many boys and girls who met in the streets sniffing glue or enamel, using drugs or crazy to have used.

Following the action of a health team at the Republic Square in the center of the city of São Paulo, there in the early 90s, had even more sure of how the matter is complicated. At that time, the crack was still a novelty scary. Today, it is a reality even more frightening because they spread too much.

The call of the press to view more fumbling a program against drug use among children and adolescents living on the streets was just more evidence that the action was doomed to failure. However, the personal efforts of those professionals was admirable. Ali has done nothing but told many stories of dedication to a cause that is so difficult.

Professionals (mostly social workers) attempted to address children and adolescents, who fled like frightened pets. Of course, if it is difficult to dialogue, to imagine that bunch of reporters, cameramen and photographers behind a blatant misery that consumed them.

I remember the look threatening and violent gestures of those wild boys and girls under the influence of crack. They lived there, were there all day, neighbors of a municipal school of education. And there they stood, not wanting to be taken anywhere. Not that way. What those people had to offer?

Last week, walking through downtown, once again I was struck by a small body shaking, probably packaged the drug, under a blanket in the middle of the sidewalk. People go, I go, nobody does anything. But these scenes are never trivial to me. Address this issue here on the blog is the least I can do to participate in the campaign, but very little.

I have a position tremendously intolerant of drugs. I am and have always been frowned. My biggest fear as a mother was and still is the involvement of a child with drugs. I do not agree, I can not deal with serenity.

With girls, anti-drug speech to a much more political than health. Discussed the ravages of drug trafficking by the entire community by submitting their army. As far as I know, it worked. I mean as far as I know why, unless it becomes an addict, I find it hard to make sure a parent (or as) a child experienced a drug at some point in life.

The world has not learned to fight drugs with efficiency and urgency it deserves. Instead, when I was a kid, it was a scandal like the use of marijuana. When the girls were children, there was already talk with ease about the social use of marijuana and cocaine use increased. While Gabriel is a child, it is said that almost everyone has experienced drug and most people who lead a productive life and affective supernormal is a user of a drug.

The traffic moved, the problem has spread, people evolved in the understanding of the subject, and I stood in the same place. Size is my fear that not in favor of decriminalization can be. I still think that the issue is political and that supports and strengthens the user traffic. Now I have to try to create a more away from drugs. This remains the biggest challenge as a mother, and also do not know what I can as a citizen.

As for these street children, little can be done when they are taken by the drug. The actions need to happen before and then I think a fit state intervention. You can not just pick up a child in the street and bring home, it involves many issues and does not solve the problem itself. How the intervention must happen? There lies a long discussion that should engage the government and society, as more than taking poor children of the street, we are dealing with public safety.
Congratulations for the post, once again, brilliant!

The use of drugs (legal or not) is already one hell of a problem for adults – which theoretically should know the effects and assess cost / benefit analysis before use. Now imagine for children and adolescents.

I think parents have a role to prevent their children have drug problems. I can see three areas of action:

1) INFORM / DISCUSS – Treating drug as taboo seems to only complicate the situation. From adolescence, it is possible to share information on the subject in a natural way, with parents who want to give the bias to the discussion.

2) Give examples – Nothing stuck for a child than seeing their parents spitting rules about drug addiction, if one or both smoke compulsively, then fill the face of any disappointment or worse, for no reason.

3) AVOID trivialization of medication – especially for psychiatric drugs like Ritalin, massively used in cases of ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder – before they run out of non-chemical treatments. The child gets used to solve their problems by taking a pill without tackling the causes of their suffering. There are studies relating the use of Ritalin in infâncoa coma incidence of drug addiction in adolescence and adulthood. Doubts? So give it a google.