Abstract

This study intended to examine the influence of drug and substance abuse on the management of discipline in secondary school in Sokoto South Local Government. To establish factors that influence students to abuse drugs and substance in schools in in Sokoto South Local Government, to identify the nature of indiscipline attributed to drug and substance abuse in in Sokoto South Local Government, to establish the challenges school managers’ face in mitigating drug and substance abuse related cases of indiscipline in Sokoto South Local Government. A cross sectional survey designed was used in order together data from various respondents from the secondary schools in Sokoto South. The researchers also adopted both quantitative and qualitative research approach to triangulate the data. The study population comprised of Principals; Vice Principals (Academics); Vice Principals (Administration); teachers; Discipline Masters and Chair persons PTA. Purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used for selecting the respondent’s. The study concludes that the factors that influence students to abuse drugs are many and they include peer influence, social pressure and group dynamics. Also drug related indiscipline is characterized by forms of indiscipline such as general disobedience manifested in acts like chaos, confusion, disobedience, disloyalty and antisocial activities, violence; destruction of property or vandalism, non compliance to schools regulations, escaping from school for day students and redundancy or idleness in places of cover within schools for the wrongful habit of drug abuse and causing disturbance as various forms of indiscipline that had caused problems for the management and administration of schools in Sokoto South local government. And On the challenges faced by school administrators in mitigating drug and other substances abuse the study concludes that drugs were discretely taken by students and therefore is difficult for school administrators to detected places where they are consumed, some prefects being un cooperative and protective of students who abused drugs, the parents and the community are not cooperative with the schools effort to combat drug abuse, school administration need the support of parents and they are not very supportive,the places where drugs were abused are unknown to school administrators and students and their leaders are reluctant to disclose their colleagues who abuse drugs.Some teachers sit on the cases related to drug abuse. The study recommends that the factors such as peer influence, social pressure and group dynamics, the desire for students to pass time and kill boredom by using drug, school location, influence of modernity, lack of awareness by the youth, curiosity, that the desire to associate with habits practiced by adult members of society and the feeling of winning attention and popularity, social pressure and peer group influence need to be addressed.