Educators meet to discuss drug abuse on World Drug Day

NEW DELHI: In its ongoing effort to decode the issue of escalating addiction among adolescents and to recommend effective solutions, Think Change Forum (TCF), an independent think tank organized another round of consultation in the backdrop of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2023.

The series are part of a national study initiative, titled ‘Ideas for an Addiction-Free India,’ which aims to gather insights from national experts in various fields, including policy, psychology, social sciences and the medical fraternity. In the recent consultation, leading educators, psychologists and social scientists met to have a focused discussion on how the education system can tackle the issue. The experts included Suneel Vatsayan, Chairperson, of Nada India Foundation; Dr. Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi, Parenting Coach, Educator, and Author, and Founder of Get Set Parent; Kalyan Chatterjee, Educationist and Author; Nalini Niranjan Mohanty, Director, Jagran Institute of Management and Mass Communication; Dr. Sudheendra Huddar, Addiction Psychiatrist, Dharwad Institute of Mental Healthand Neurosciences and Anju Kish, Founder, and CEO, of Untaboo, a Safety and Sex Education company.

According to a 2019 national survey by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the prevalence of substance use among adolescents in India is approximately 2%.