Illicit drug use by secondary school learners in Windhoek, Namibia

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual study is to explore and describe the perception of secondary school learners regarding the use of illicit drugs and to propose recommendations to caregivers and school teachers that could help curb illicit drugs use. Purposive sampling was used to identify twelve secondary school learners who participated in this study. Data were collected through in-depth individual face-to-face interviews, drawings and field notes. Data analysis was done using Tesch’s descriptive method of open coding. The findings revealed that a combination of factors such as vulnerability, physical changes, psychological challenges and social challenges experienced by secondary school learners in Windhoek, Namibia, lead to illicit drugs use. The participants identified the different strategies they employed to recapture their lives from using illicit drugs and recommendations were made to caregivers and teachers on how to address these factors.