Knowledge and attitudes regarding the effects of substance abuse among high school learners in the Collins Chabane Municipality, Limpopo Province

Abstract

Substance abuse in South Africa is dramatically increasing despite many intervention strategies. The impact of substance abuse on society has harmful health consequences, which also have an impact on the economy and the wider society. The aim of the study was to assess knowledge regarding the effects of substance abuse among high school learners in the Collins Chabane Municipality, of the Limpopo Province. A quantitative, descriptive research design was used. A purposive sampling method was used to sample participants from a school that was selected to participate in the study under the Malamulele West circuit. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of close-ended questions was used to collect data from learners. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25,0. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used during data analysis. Data was presented in charts and frequency tables. Half of the respondents were aged 14-17 years while the other half were aged 18-21, 22 years and above. Only male high school learners were selected to participate in the study, because majority of learners who misbehave towards educators due to influence of substances were male learners. Most of the respondents (46.6%) were in grade 11 while 53.4% were in grade 10 and 12. The majority (91.3%) of the high school learners knew that abuse of alcohol may lead an abuser to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse when they are under the influence. The study also found that few (34%) high school learners held negative attitude towards dagga because they indicated that dagga removes fear and boosts confidence. The study concluded that high school learners have high knowledge that abuse of alcohol, dagga and cigarettes possess many health and social difficulties such as leading a learner to perform poorly at school, and to engage in criminal activities, and contributing to lung diseases and respiratory illnesses. The limitations which could limit the generalisability of the research results include that the study was conducted in Collins Chabane Municipality which limit the results to be generalised to all high school learners from other municipalities. The use of structured questionnaire also limited respondents who wished to elaborate more on their personal views and experiences. Female learners were not included in the study, this could have been useful in terms of comparative data across genders.