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Statement of the Deputy Secretary for Education, Mr Ram Chandar, at the launch of IDADIIT, at the FCAE Hall on Thursday 26 June, 2008 A ADDRESS ∑ GOVERNMENT MINISTRY REPRESENTATIVES ∑ REPRESENTATIVES OF VARIOUS RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS ∑ HEADS OF SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ∑ NSAAC COUNCIL MEMBERS ∑ PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS ∑ DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN B OPENING REMARKS 1. I AM DELIGHTED TO BE AMONGST YOU ALL HERE, THIS MORNING, AND I AM HONOURED TO HAVE TO CONTRIBUTE A FEW REFLECTIVE THOUGHTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE & ILLICIT TRAFFIKING. 2. AT THE OUTSET, LET ME SAY, THAT AS A NATION WE HAVE DONE EXCEPTIONALLY WELL SENDING TROOPS TO WAR-TORN COUNTRIES FOR PEACE-KEEPING DUTIES. AND WHILE WE RELISH THE ACCOLADES COMING OUR WAY FROM OUR INTERNATIONAL COUNTERPARTS, WE MUST NOT BE BLIND TO THE SOMEWHAT QUIET AND CONNVING ENEMY THAT LURKS WITHIN OUR VERY OWN BACKYARD. 3. DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE HAS BECOME A MULTI-PRONGED MENACE TO BE RECKONED WITH. THE WAR AGAINST DRUGS IS A VERY REAL ONE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. 4. THOSE OF US WHO ARE HERE THIS MORNING SHARE AN IMPORTANT COMMITMENT TO THIS WAR, APPARENTLY. YOUR VERY PRESENCE HERE IS AN INDICATION OF YOUR DEDICATION TO WIN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE SCOURGE OF DRUGS. 5. ILLEGAL DRUG USE THREATENS EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING THAT IS BEST FOR OUR COUNTRY. IT BREAKS THE BONDS BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDREN. IT TURNS PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS INTO ADDICTS. IT TRANSFORMS SCHOOLS INTO PLACES OF VIOLENCE AND CHAOS. IT MAKES RECREATIONAL PLAYGROUNDS INTO CRIME SCENES. 6. ILLEGAL DRUG IS THE ENEMY OF AMBITION AND HOPE, AND WHEN WE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS WE FIGHT FOR THE SOULS OF OUR FELLOW COUNTRYMEN, FOR THE SOULS OF OUR CHILDREN. 7. FOR THIS REASON, WE MUST AGRESSIVELY AND UNABASHEDLY TEACH OUR CHILDREN THE DANGERS OF DRUGS. WE MUST AGGRESSIVELY TREAT ADDICTION WHEREVER WE FIND IT. AND WE MUST AGRESSIVELY ENFORCE LAWS AGAINST DRUGS. 8. WE CANNOT PICK AND CHOOSE BETWEEN THESE GOALS. ALL ARE NECESSARY IF ANY IS TO BE EFFECTIVE. 9. FOR THIS REASON, THE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH CURRENTLY BEING TAKEN IS HIGHLY COMMENDED. AND IN THIS REGARDS, LET ME STATE THAT THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION GRATEFULLY APPRECIATES THE SUPPORT OF OUR DEDICATED STAKEHOLDERS. C GLOBAL TRENDS IN DRUG USE AND DRUG TRAFFIKING 10. MOST OF US HERE PRESENT, HAVE WITNESSSED HOW DRUG SUPPORTS GANG CULTURES AND HOOLIGANISM IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOODS. AND ABROAD, TRAFFIC IN DRUGS, FINANCES THE WORK OF BIG-TIME CRIMINALS AND TERRORISTS. 11. AS WE COMMEMORATE THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE & ILLICIT TRAFFICKING, [IDADIIT] THE MINISTRY WISHES TO CALL UPON ALL STAKEHOLDERS TO STRONGLY AND STEADFASTLY OPPOSE THE ILLEGAL CULTIVATION AND USE OF DRUGS. 12. THE THEME DRUG FREE FIJI - MARIJUANA KILLS! DON’T TILL IS AN APT REMINDER TO US OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM. IT REMINDS US THAT WE CAN LONGER CONCENTRATE OUR FIGHT ON THE USERS AND SUPPLIERS ONLY. IF THERE IS ANY HOPE OF ERADICATING DRUGS, THEN WE NEED TO TARGET THE FARMERS WHO TILL THE PLANT. 13. THE UN WORLD DRUG REPORT PUTS A PRICE OF OVER $300 BILLION ON THE RETAIL MARKET VALUE OF DRUGS. THE PRODUCER MARKET NETS OVER $12 BILLION, AND MARIHUANA USERS ALONE NUMBER OVER 158 MILLION WORLDWIDE. IT IS INDEED A SADDENING THOUGHT THAT SOME OF OUR OWN CITIZENS CONTRIBUTE TO THESE STATISTICS. 14. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LET MATTERS REST HERE. THE ONUS IS ON US TO ACT AND TO WORK , ND MOST IMPORTANLY, IN MY OPINION TO PROVIDE ALTERNATIVES FOR DRUGS. D IMPORTANCE OF GOOD DECISION MAKING IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS 15. ACCORDING TO STATISTICS PROVIDED BY NSAAC, AT LEAST 55% OF STUDENTS STARTED THEIR DRUG INITIATION BETWEEN THE AGES OF 12 TO 13 YEARS. I’M SURE IF WE LOOKED AT STATISTICS RELATED TO CRIME AND TO STI’S, THERE WOULD BE A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF OFFENDERS IN THE TEENAGE AND ADOLESCENT YEARS. 16. IN THE UNITED STATES, A STUDY CONDUCTED IN THE LATE NINETIES SHOWED THAT 45% OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS REPORTED HAVING TRIED MARIHUANA. APART FROM THAT, VIOLENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS HAS INCREASED TO THE POINT THAT HOMICIDE IS THE SECOND LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE. 17. THE GLOBAL TREND IS OBVIOUS. THE TARGET GROUP FOR DRUG ABUSE AND OTHE RELATED CRIMES, ARE MOSTLY ADOLESCENTS. 18. ADOLESCENCE IS FREQUENTLY DESCRIBED AS A TIME OF ENGAGING IN RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOURS. SOME RESEARCHERS SUGGEST THAT TEENAGERS TEND TO BE ESPECIALLY HIGH IN SENSATION SEEKING. OTHERS SUGGEST THEY USE THESE BEHAVIOURS TO APPEAR MORE MATURE OR BECAUSE THEY HAVE HEIGHTENED ECOCENTRISM. 19. WHATEVER IT IS, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THESE BEHAVIOURS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO A COMBINATION OF INDIVIDUAL, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. 20. ONE OF THESE FACTORS THAT HAS RECEIVED MUCH RESEARCH ATTENTION IN RECENT YEARS IS ADOLESCENT DECISION MAKING. 21. INTERESTINGLY A FAMOUS SPANISH SCHOLAR ONCE STATED THAT, “DRUG MISUSE IS NOT A DISEASE, IT IS A DECISION, LIKE THE DECISION TO STEP OUT OF A MOVING CAR. YOU WOULD NOT CALL THAT A DISEASE BUT AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT. UNQUOTE 22. HAVING SAID THAT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I AM CONVINCED THAT ONE OF THE KEY FACTORS THAT WE NEED TO CONCENTRATE ON WHEN PROMOTING THE IDADIIT THEME IS GOOD DECISION-MAKING. 23. ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT LITERARY EXAMPLES OF HAVING TO MAKE A DECISION WAS CREATED BY SHAKESPEARE, WHEN HAMLET PONDERS THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF HIS LIFE, OF WHETHER TO LIVE OR DIE. 24. HIS FAMOUS SOLILOQUY OF “TO BE OR NOT TO BE” IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF HOW THE HUMAN MIND OPERATES WHEN WE ARE LEFT WITH A SERIOUS DECISION. 25. AS HAMLET PONDERS THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION OF HIS LIFE, OUR YOUNG PEOPLE FACE THE SAME SET OF QUESTIONS IN CHOOSING BETWEEN LIVING A DRUG-FREE LIFE OR NOT. THE MARIHUANA FARMER, I’M SURE ALSO FACES THE SAME DILEMMA, OF WHETHER TO TILL OR NOT. 26. THESE DECISIONS ARE LIFE DECISIONS WHICH DO NOT OCCUR FREQUENTLY, BUT HAVE HUGE CONSEQUENCES. OFTEN THEY DETERMINE THE PATH WE TAKE FOR MANY YEARS, AND IN THE CASE OF DRUGS, THE SADDEST PART IS THAT THESE DECISIONS ARE OFTEN IRREVERSIBLE. E THE HIGH MORAL GROUND – AN ALTERNATIVE TO DRUGS 27. ON THAT NOTE, LET ME ADD, THAT APART FROM TEACHING CHILDREN THE SKILLS OF GOOD DECISION-MAKING, WE ALSO NEED TO OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE THAT WILL BECOME THE ROOT AND FOUNDATION FOR THE CHOICE OF A DRUG-FREE LIFE. 28. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ALTERNATIVES, OBVIOUSLY, BUT GIVEN THE SHORT TIME, WE HAVE, I WISH TO PROPOSE THAT WE VIGOROUSLY PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL CHARACTER. 29. I AM OF THE OPINION THAT THE CONTINUING DEGENERATION OF PERSONAL VIRTUE AMONGST OUR YOUNG PEOPLE SEEMS TO BE EMERGING AS THE SINGLE MOST URGENT ISSUE IN OUR TIME. 30. I AM CONVINCED THAT THERE IS SOMETHING MISSING, THERE IS A VOID IN THE LIFE OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE THAT HAS PROMPTED THEM TO RESORT TO DRUGS. 31. A HARVARD PROFESSOR BY THE NAME OF ROBERT COLES, CONCLUDED IN ONE OF HIS MAJOR RESEARCHES THAT THE MISSING ELEMENT WAS A STRONG, UNARGUABLE NOTION OF RIGHT AND WRONG, OF GOOD AND BAD. 32. WE NOW HAVE A NATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE A COMPLICATED BELIEF SYSTEM THAT SOMETIMES RUN COUNTER TO TRADITIONAL VALUES. THERE IS AN UNMISTAKABLE EROSION OF CHILDREN’S FAITH IN, AND SUPPORT FOR, TRADITIONAL SOURCES OF AUTHORITY. 33. MORE THAN PARENTS, TEACHERS OR AUTHORITATIVE OFFICIALS, CHILDREN TURN TO PEERS FOR GUIDANCE ON RIGHT AND WRONG. F CONCLUDING REMARKS 34. ROBERT COLE DESCRIBED HIS CONVERSATION WITH ADOLESCENTS AS “NOT ALL THAT MUSCULAR” IN MATTERS RELATING TO CONSCIENCE. 35. IT IS HEARTENING TO SEE MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS BEING PART OF THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS, BECAUSE THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO SHAPING AND MOULDING CHARACTERS OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE VIRTUOUS AND LAW-ABIDING, IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE. 36. INDEED, MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, WE ALL NEED TO SEEK TO RESTORE ETHICS, MORALITY AND VIRTUES SO THAT THESE FUDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES WILL PROVIDE THE ROOT AND FOUNDATION OF A SOCIETY THAT IS CLOTHED WITH INTEGRITY. 37. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT WHILE THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A ROLE FOR LAWS, ULTIMATELY, DECISIONS ABOUT DRUG TAKING WILL LARGELY BE CONTROLLED BY INDIVIDUAL CHOICE OR DECISIONS, WHICH I HAD EARLIER ON, MADE REFERENCE TO. 38. FURTHERMORE, THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUG, REQUIRES US TO ASSUME A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN MOULDING OUR CHILDREN TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO ENGAGE IN MORAL REASONING AND DECISION-MAKING, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY THAT THEY HAVE THE MORAL MOTIVATION AND SELF-CONTROL TO SAY NO TO DRUGS. 39. STRENGTHENING THE MIND IS NOT ENOUGH. TO BE EFFECTIVE DRUG FIGHTERS, WE NEED TO NURTURE CHARACTERS. 40. THEODORE ROOSEVELT ONCE SAID, “TO EDUCATE A PERSON’S MIND AND NOT HIS CHARACTER IS TO EDUCATE A MENACE” UNQUOTE. 41. IT IS IMPERATIVE, THAT WE PROVIDE STRATEGIES THAT PROMOTE ETHICAL UPBRINGING, AND CHARACTER EDUCATION SHOULD BE A CRITICAL COMPONENT IN ACHIEVING THAT GOAL FOR A DRUG-FREE FIJI WHERE MARIHUANA CAN NO LONGER KILL AND WHERE FARMERS WILL NO LONGER TILL. 42. I THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AND WITH THOSE FEW WORDS, I HAVE IMMENSE PLEASURE IN OFFICIALLY LAUNCHING THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE & ILLICIT TRAFFIKING. 43. VINAKA VAKALEVU! *************** |
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