Outline
Through the years, the problem of the illegal drug trade and use has intensified. Several efforts have been applied to eradicate it, yet little results achieved. As a change of approach, other means continue to be invented and applied with the hope that there will be change. One of the best approaches is the establishment of community justice programs that seek to identify the root cause of the problem and deal with it in the most appropriate way. It is a friendly means that brings together several groups, each with a unique responsibility.
Bring Community Justice to the Problems of Youth
According to (Todd, 1999), Drug trafficking and abuse have become a major issue among the youth. It is so discouraging to hear of the increasing number of youth that is either selling or using drugs. Despite it being declared illegal by the government and the stern measures that are being taken to discourage the vice, it has served little purpose to completely eradicate it. At this point as a community, we need to look back and find out why the measures taken to curb this habit have not worked.
It will be useless for us, to hold on to measures that are no longer working. Many of our youth are suffering from drugs and by putting pressure on them we are not in any way helping them. It is a high time we realize that most of them have been trapped in it and are looking for a way out. By imposing severe punishment on such a youth, it is only going to worsen his situation. This could probably be the reason for the increased abuse of drugs. When the youth reach a point in life where they feel nobody loves and appreciates them, they will engage in activities like drug abuse to gain a sense of belonging.
For us to eradicate this problem we need to associate with the victims and know what has driven them into this activity. Most of them that have been evaluated confess that they were driven into it for adventure, peer pressure, and others through frustration and stress. They know and understand the repercussions of this use, yet are unable to stop because of its addictive nature. They were also willing to change if they found someone who understands enough to lead them out of it. Many are however afraid of revealing it even to their parents and guardians because they may reject them. (Hudson, 2003)
As youths in our community, we have decided not let our own suffer when we can do something about it. We are aware of two drug groups in our community that are misleading the youth. The main people of this group are adults who are using the innocent youth in their dirty business. As a group we have decided to educate and empower them on what will benefit them. We are going to form different partnership groups that aim at assimilating these youths, most of whom feel rejected.
We are going to facilitate the entire process into different stages that will involve different people. In the first stage, we will befriend and assimilate them as our own after which we will interrogate them and find out how they got into the business. Once we know this, we will be able to evaluate the best methods that we can use to help them out. In this process we will sensitize them on the risks they expose themselves to and also provide them with alternative remedies that will help them out. Through this groups, we will let them realize that their future is at stake if they continue in this business, they are important and there is something better they can do, their leaders who are mature adults, do not care about their welfare and are just using them to make money. (Barrack, 2007)
Through these programs we are going to partner with our local leaders so that they can allow as help our friends and provide the necessary support. We will also partner with our church leaders who will assist us in canceling programs and spiritual guidance on how to approach the issue. We will also be in consultation with the parents of the victims who will be of great help in the restoration of their children.
We are also going to mobilize companies and any other group that can offer us financial assistance so as to effectively run the program and hospitals that can offer medical assistance. We may be faced with a bigger challenge, trying to incorporate the different groups into our partnership plan because of the way the society looks at the problem of drug abuse. We will therefore explain to them how we intend to do it and how important it is for us to join forces to assist our youth. (Marilyn, 2007)
When we realize that abuse of drug is not only a problem for the few individuals that are directly involved it but also affects us in one way or the other, we will fully embrace the responsibility of eradicating it. When we look at these youth as our own children, brothers and sisters, then we will invest all the resources that we have to protect them. Let us change our attitude towards them and look at them as people with special needs who need to be given special care just as we do to the old, the orphans and the disabled.
Most of them are hurting and they need someone to appreciate and help them, which are me and you. Let us not wait for another day to help them because, we should assist them now before the problem reach advanced stages so that they can change as early as possible and mould their behaviors for their own good and for the good of the community as a whole. (Barrack, 2007)
References
Barrack G, Battleground, greenwood press, 2007 pp. 26-30.
Hudson B. (2003): Justice in the Risk Society: SAGE publications pp. 45-47.
Jacobson M. (2005): Downsizing prisons: NYU Press pp. 11-18.
Marilyn D. (2007): Youth Violence and Delinquency, Greenwood Publishing Group pp. 35-39.
Todd R. (1999) The Community Justice Ideal: West view press pp. 33-39.