Only a quarter of secondary school pupils are aware that abusing drugs can be addictive, a survey has found, and the researcher warns that hidden drug addicts at schools are on the rise.
More than 10 per cent of 544 secondary school pupils who participated in the survey over the past two months had heard of their peers taking drugs. Two per cent had abused drugs themselves, according to the study by Polytechnic University and Christian Zheng Sheng College, a school that helps drug addicts.
But while more than half of the respondents agreed that drinking, smoking, playing computer games and using the internet could be addictive, only 24.5 per cent said taking drugs without prescriptions could have the same result.
This reflected weak vigilance against narcotics among youth, said Professor Daniel Shek Tan-lei, chair professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the university. 'Some thought taking cough syrup was all right, but in fact even taking Panadol can be addictive,' Shek said.
He also noticed a trend of increasing hidden drug abuse among youth who were taking illegal drugs privately rather than in public places.
'People took drugs in discos and karaoke places in the past, but now they go to friends' homes. It's becoming harder to identify them,' Shek said.
He suggested there should be more social workers posted at schools so they could identify and help pupils with problems.