Voices of Teachers and Pupils on School-Based Alcohol Abuse Preventive Strategies in Selected Schools of Lusaka, Zambia

Fumbani Mphande¹, Kalisto Kalimaposo², Kaiko Mubita³, Inonge Milupi⁴, Kasonde Mundende⁵, Chidongo Phiri⁶, Harrison Daka⁷

¹University of Zambia, Graduate School of Business

^2,3,4,5,6,7University of Zambia, School of Education

ABSTRACT: The study explored teachers’ and pupils’ views on school-based alcohol abuse preventive strategies in selected schools of Lusaka, Zambia. The study involved 30 participants and used descriptive research design to collect data. Purposive sampling procedure were used to select teachers, pupils, head teachers, parents and mental health education officers. Focus Group Discussion were used among pupils as a ‘friendship group.’ Interview guides were used to collect data from teachers, pupils, head teachers and mental health officers. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data with major themes drawn from interviews. From the findings, it was evident that some pupils abused alcohol in school premises. The findings revealed that peer pressure, stress, ignorance, curiosity, lack of sensitization on the dangers of alcohol abuse were the main factors influencing the pupils to abuse alcohol in schools. The findings showed that sensitization and awareness were rarely conducted to prevent pupils from abusing alcohol. The study recommended inter alia that school based strategies should be more interactive and should involve plays, games, life skills training in order to contribute positively to behavioural change. Teachers, head teachers and parents should be involved in the prevention of alcohol abuse and should undergo short in-house training in alcohol prevention in schools.

KEYWORDS: Alcohol, abuse, school based preventive strategies, peers, substance abuse

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Alcohol abuse is a worldwide problem that affects learners in secondary schools. Young people in schools especially boys tend to experiment with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs during their middle school years. By the time students are in senior secondary school or high school rates of alcohol abuse are remarkably high. It has been observed that Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among secondary school students. Many educators recognize that drug and alcohol abuse among students are significant barriers to the achievement of educational objectives as they negatively affect the development of the learners or the youths. The public outcry especially in the print and electronic media on alcohol abuse among pupils has been persistent and calls for efforts by teachers, pupils, parents and the government and key stakeholders in the alcohol industry need to play a key role in tackling this worrying concern. Alcohol abuse among pupils is becoming a problem in Zambia as a number of studies carried out in the country show that learners or pupils at one time or another experiment with drugs especially alcohol and tobacco. Research has shown that abuse of alcohol at earlier or young stage can affect the development of the brain and ruin the academic performance of a pupil. A Canadian Addiction Survey (2005), on alcohol abuse and drug abuse revealed that 62.3% of youths aged 15 to 17 years engage in early use of alcohol and 29.2% in early use of marijuana. In the Caribbean, a school survey on drug use done in Trinidad and Tobago in 1993 showed that 91% of students had used alcohol, 46.7% had used tobacco, and 6.9% had used marijuana, while 1% had tried cocaine (Bourne, 2005).

It has been observed that the rising  alcohol abuse situation among learners in Zambia’s secondary schools has become a major social and health concern to the public (Masiye, Ndhlovu & Kasonde-Ng’andu, 2015).  Teachers and professional health educators recognize that alcohol abuse among learners is a hindrance to the educational progression of learners in schools. Ekpenyong (2012) attributed high levels of indiscipline and riotous behaviours displayed by learners in schools to drugs and alcohol use. Leaners in secondary schools are particularly at risk given that they are at the peak of their formative years of education, career development, social skills and identity formation.

The overwhelming negative consequences of drug and alcohol abuse on individual learners, their families, schools and communities, highlight the urgency and the need for effective and sustainable prevention interventions to minimize or reduce the damage it may cause. In this regard, Botvin and Griffin (2003) contend that the most promising interventions are those that are conceptualized within a theoretical framework based on the etiology of drug abuse.

In Zambia, drug and alcohol abuse prevention activities have been conducted mainly by Government Ministries/Agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations and religious Organisations. For example, the Ministry of Education,  Ministry  of  Health  (MoH),  Drug  Enforcement  Commission  (DEC),  Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) and other leading Non-governmental (NGOs) including Faith- Based Organizations (FBOs) have been conducting drug and alcohol abuse prevention education in schools. These prevention efforts have been intensified since 1990s, that is, in terms of aggregate level of prevention activities, the number of organizations involved, and government’s will to fight drug and alcohol abuse in the country (Masiye, 2011). In spite of considerable effort directed towards prevention activities by these organizations, media reports and statistics indicate that it is on the increase among learners in schools (DEC, 2012). This apparent failure to achieve significant reduction in the number of learners abusing drugs and alcohol in schools may be attributed to non-application of or unclear theoretical base for prevention programmes being executed. It is likely that most prevention service providers may not be consciously guided by researched theoretical frameworks but their own experiences. In addition, there is a glaring lack of literature linking theory to practice in drug and alcohol prevention in the Zambia context. It is therefore not clear what kind of theories guide prevention programmes undertaken by prevention providers in Zambia’s schools. There are two famous models used in the prevention of alcohol and drug abuse; the two approaches are the Modified Social Stress Model (MSSM) and the Social Ecological Model (SEM). The two models have been chosen for two reasons; first, they endeavour to address family, school and community factors that influence learners to abuse or not to abuse drugs and alcohol. Second, they are broad, multi-level and comprehensive approaches as opposed to singular focused interventions that may have been used by prevention service providers in the past. Therefore they are much more suited for the application to school-based drug and alcohol abuse prevention.

The experience of drug and alcohol use refers to the perceived desired effects the consumer may experience after using drugs or alcohol. These substances are more likely to be used by learners in secondary schools if they derive some form of subjective benefits from using them. For instance learners in a boarding secondary school my use drugs or alcohol to provide them with entertainment when they are bored; to gather courage to do certain actions, or to reduce physical and emotional pain. Secondary schools that have experienced some form of riots have attributed it to the perceived feeling of courage derived from drug and alcohol abuse by learners. Understanding what learners like about the effects of drug and alcohol abuse is important in planning interventions. Planned school-based prevention activities can include information dissemination or education campaign on the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse, in combination with refusal skills training. This is supported by Faggiano et al., (2005)  who suggested that school-based intervention programmes can be designed to provide knowledge about the effects of drugs on the body and psychological effects, as a way of building negative attitudes toward drugs.

Attachment is the bonding that exists between individuals and social institutions such as family, school, religion and community.  According  to  WHO,  (n.d.)  young  people  who have established strong, positive attachments to their family or school  and  community  are  less  likely  to  engage  in  risk behaviours  such  as  drug  and  alcohol  abuse,  Conversely learners who are negatively attached to drug and alcohol abusing peers or significant others, have higher chances of getting involved in use of these substances. It is not unusual to see learners affiliated to groups in secondary schools in Zambia, while some groups may have good intentions, others have   negative   influence   on   group   members.   Therefore, school-based prevention programmes should also aim at providing peer to peer education activities that promote learners’ sense of positive attachment to peers, parents, teachers, school administrators, school clubs, religious groupings and commitment to schoolwork. In addition, prevention providers can conduct parenting skills training sessions in schools in conjunction with Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs).

Social skills or competencies are very influential in determining the behaviour of young people in various settings. Learners who have more social competencies are less likely to resort to risk behaviour such as drug and alcohol abuse to cope with challenges of life either at home, school or community. School-based prevention programmes can be tailored to provide psychosocial skills, including physical and performance skills. Research indicates that prevention programmes whose contents involves teaching of refusal skills together with other life skills have proved to be effective in reducing drug and alcohol use among learners (Tobler and Stratton, 1997; Botvin and Griffins, 2003). Although life skills training has been prioritized by the Ministry of Education, it is not taught as a subject, as a result no large scale evaluation has been done to determine its impact on drug and alcohol abuse prevention in secondary schools. This is one area in which research is encouraged by prevention practitioners and policy makers.

Intrapersonal factors also known as individual factors include personal knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about drug and alcohol abuse behaviour (William et al., 2006). Some learners may get involved in drug and alcohol abuse because they lack knowledge on the harmful effects of drugs, lack resistance or refusal skills, belief that drugs will make them think intelligently or they simply have low self- esteem. It is not unusual for young learners in a new secondary school in Zambia to display such personal characteristics as they try to establish their identity.  Prevention intervention by teachers and other prevention providers can be directed to teaching of resistance skills, life skills training and normative education, particularly to learners in transitional periods such as grade eights, grade tens and twelves. Research has confirmed that interventions whose contents are based on skills training have a measurable impact on reduction of drug and alcohol among young people (Uhl and Ives, 2010).

Interpersonal processes relates to how learners are influenced by family members, peers, classmates, teachers, school administrators and friendship groups through interactions. For example learners who live in homes where parents drink and smoke may be influenced to do the same. Additionally, in a study conducted by Masiye (2011), it was found that peer pressure  was one of  the  leading  determinants of drug and alcohol  abuse  among  learners  in  Livingstone  district  of Zambia. So a learner who plays with friends who take drugs or alcohol is likely to be influenced to take drugs or alcohol too. At this level, prevention efforts should be aimed at providing factual information on the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse, provide peer education programmes and parenting skills training through Parents Teachers Associations. According to Dusenbury and Falco (1995) interventions that are peer led have  proved  to  be  effective  in  reducing  substance  abuse among young people, although the effect is more for those trained to teach others.

Institutional influences on learners may emanate from the school itself or other organized groupings such as clubs, associations   religious   groups   clicks,   sports   teams.   The systems, procedures, rules and regulations which are put in place   in   the   school,   may   influence   learners   to   abuse substances, depending on how they are implemented by the school authority. For example some head teachers who are tough in handling learners’ disciplinary cases in secondary schools have tended to cause stress in the learners and learners resort to using drugs and alcohol as a coping strategy. On the other hand schools that have warm social environment, learners have fewer incidences of drug and alcohol abuse in the schools. Regarding intervention at this level research evidence suggest that use of clear school policies have a potential to reduce drug and alcohol among learners. This was confirmed by a study conducted by Evans-Whipp et al., (2013) which suggested that policy enforcement may lessen drinking by learners at school. There are no  specific drug  and  alcohol policies in most of the Zambia’s secondary schools other than isolated statements enshrined in school rules. Teachers and school administrators in conjunction with PTAs can design and implement school drug and alcohol prevention policies that are enforceable.

Community factors, according to Vantamay (2009:355), include “the environment where people live, their neighborhoods, or living conditions within a prescribed geographical area.” They also include community norms, cultural values and physical environments such as sports field and material resources.  These  aspects  of  life,  to  a  larger extent,  affect  the  way  individuals  behave.  For instance learners, who come to school from communities where drugs and alcohol are readily available, easily accessed and its use is viewed as a norm, or aggression is a symbol of power may resort to drug and alcohol abuse behaviour as a strategy to reduce stress cause by such conditions.

In  Zambia  there  are  many  secondary  schools  which  are situated in underdeveloped areas of urban and rural communities. Prevention providers working in these areas can plan and implement interventions aimed at changing the social environment in conjunction with Parents teachers Association members. At this level interventions may include education campaign, parenting skills training, Publications such as brochures and posters, media advocacy, training of community leaders and peer educators and use of popular theatre in a bid to promote positive community attitudes and awareness to participation in drug and alcohol abuse prevention.

Public policy factor, also known as society factors have to a larger extent an influence on young peoples’ involvement in drug and alcohol abuse behaviour.  These factors include social and cultural norms that support drug and alcohol use such as alcohol advertising and use of drugs as a cultural identity. For example learners who are constantly exposed to alcohol advertising in the media may be influenced to take alcohol to get the perceived benefit indicated on the advert. A study by Vantamay (2009) confirms that high exposure to alcohol advertising is associated with higher consumption of alcohol among university students. Learners who live in societies where drug use is glorified and viewed as cultural identity are susceptible to drug use behaviour. In  some  Zambian  ethnic groups, it is culturally acceptable to use marijuana as it is regarded as a symbol of being a real tribesman. School-based Prevention interventions at this level can be a based on educating learners and community members on government policy and general information on social and economic consequences. In addition, prevention providers could also provide and social norm education dealing with dispelling of beliefs related to use of these substances.

Namasiku,(2014) conducted a study that focused on the role of formal education in mitigating abuse of alcohol among the pupils in selected schools of Lusaka district the study showed that formal education has a role to play in mitigating alcohol abuse by pupils. The findings were that generally the causes of early alcohol intake are well known by most pupils in schools. The causes mostly emanate from the environment the pupils come from. The environment includes parents, bar owners/tenders, bar location, peer influence, lack of sensitisation and lack of stringent laws among the many causes.

Namasiku and Thole, (2012) stressed on the restrictions of selling of alcoholic drinks to persons under the age of 18. Apart from age restriction, Zambia is struggling to come up with policies that will protect pupils and the general public from abusing alcohol. The notable policies are those to control the manufacturer and trader and to some extent the consumer. The Statutory Instrument is part of the Liquor Licensing Regulations of 2011, in which the permitted hours for the sale of intoxicating liquor shall be prescribed. This revised instrument bans supermarkets, bottle stores and wholesale outlets from selling alcoholic beverages on Sundays and public holidays and only allowing them to conduct trade from Monday to Friday from 10:00 hours to 19:00 hours. This instrument limits selling of alcohol on work days and weekends for restaurants and bars, the  latest hour of sell being 23:00hours on weekends and night clubs 03:00hours  on  weekends.

It is worth noting that, the current statutory instruments have not reduced the alcohol abuse among the youths and the people of Zambia and other countries globally. The abuse of alcohol has continued especially among the youths. Most of the studies on alcohol took a holistic or broad approach. A study done by Masiye, (2011) focused on the impact of drug abuse and alcohol abuse school based preventive strategies on pupils in selected secondary schools in Livingstone and focused on three substances like marijuana, tobacco as well as alcohol. In this study, Masiye, (2011) indicated that the leading factors of drug abuse and alcohol abuse; were peer pressure, personal and emotional problems at home and at school propelled by poor parent – child relationship, availability of cheap drugs and alcohol in the community ,parents, siblings and other adults who serve as models for drug and alcohol abuse among pupils. Other factors noted were curiosity, having fun and feeling cool, the need for recognition, to be feared and being famous among pupils in the school and belief among them that certain drugs increase academic performance.

Statement of the problem

Alcohol abuse arising from the secondary school learners in Zambia is becoming a serious problem. Alcohol addiction leads many young people into a downward spiral of hopelessness that in some cases ends in death or mental problems. The addiction range from glue-sniffing street children and teenage ecstasy users to hard core heroin and cocaine addicts. Alcohol abuse is responsible for lost wages, destruction of property in schools, soaring health care costs and broken families. It is a problem that affects parents, teachers, children, government officials including community members.

Despite alcohol abuse preventive strategies being put in place to reduce abuse in schools, pupils have continued abusing alcohol. This development has brought concerns among community members who do not only fear that this might put many pupils at risk of poor academic performance, behaviour problems, but also contracting HIV and AIDS. Muula (2007) indicated that in Zambia particularly, 40.8% of adolescents (36.7% of boys and 45.2% of girls) have drunk alcohol before. However, there has been little research done to explore the teachers and pupils’ views on school based preventive strategies in Lusaka. It is against this backdrop, that this study was conceived to explore the teachers and pupils’ and views on alcohol abuse preventive strategies in selected schools of Lusaka District in Zambia.

Purpose of the study         

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ and pupils’ views on school based alcohol abuse preventive strategies in selected schools of Lusaka District, Zambia.

Research questions

1. What leads to alcohol abuse among learners in selected secondary schools of Lusaka District?
2. How is sensitization against alcohol abuse done in schools?
3. What are the experiences of teachers and learners on alcohol abuse in secondary schools of Lusaka District?
4. What strategies have schools put in place to curb alcohol abuse in schools?

METHODOLOGY

This study used a descriptive study design, this design was preferred because it allows the
researcher to describe the facts and characteristics of a given phenomenon, population,
or area of interest (Merriam and Simpson, 1995). In relation to this study, descriptions of qualitative on the experiences of teachers, learners and parents on school based alcohol abuse preventive strategies in selected schools of Lusaka District.

The main goal of using descriptive design in this study was to provide detailed specific experiences of teachers, pupils and parents on school based alcohol abuse preventive strategies in selected schools in Lusaka District in Zambia. The reason for using descriptive design was that it tends to draw from the naturalistic inquiry which purports a commitment to study something in its natural state to the extent of context of the research.

The study applied non-probability sampling techniques with the intention of selecting individual participants for the sample that does not give all the individuals in the population equal chance of being selected This research involved a sample size of thirty (30), consisting of sixteen (16) learners, eight(8) teachers, two (2) head teachers, two(2)  parents  and two (2) mental health programme education officers. Kombo (2002) state that the power of purposive sampling lies in selecting information rich cases for in-depth analysis related to the central issues being studied. Focus group discussion guide and face to face interviews were used in this study to collect data from learners, teachers, head teachers, parents and mental health programme education officers. The purpose of focus group discussion is to obtain in-depth information on concepts and ideas of the groups. Ethical precautions were taken into consideration by keeping names of all participants anonymous. Confidentiality was also assured by making verbal appeals that the information given would only be used for educational purposes.

 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

Views of teachers and pupils on school-based alcohol abuse preventive strategies in selected schools in Lusaka District, Zambia were presented according to research questions: What leads to alcohol abuse among learners in selected secondary schools of Lusaka District? How is sensitization against alcohol abuse done in schools? What are the experiences of teachers and learners on alcohol abuse in secondary schools of Lusaka District? What strategies have schools put in place to curb alcohol abuse in schools?

Findings revealed that pupils heard messages of alcohol abuse in schools mainly during School Assembly talks by the head teacher and other school administrators. In some schools the messages on alcohol abuse were disseminated through drama and other co-curricular activities.

During the focus group discussion one pupil said

‘‘Sir, we want the government or the school administration to provide us with more sporting activities, or games to keep us busy to prevent us from abusing alcohol, also our parents should be invited during the assemblies to talk  to us so that we change our behaviour. (Grade 9 boy from School A) Findings also showed that pupils learnt some information about alcohol abuse and their dangers, alcohol education, drug resistance skills and substance abuse.

In a Focus Group Discussion a male pupil said:

You know what Sir?, the preventive strategies to reduce alcohol abuse in school should include: involving parents, alcohol abuse and the dangers should be included in the syllabus for all grades, pupils should be expelled from school, we also need our fellow pupils to tell us the dangers of alcohol abuse, the school administration during assembly meeting should also warn us on the dangers of alcohol abuse so that us as pupils we should know .

(Grade 12 boy, FGD- pupil from school B)

Regarding the preventive strategies that teachers use to prevent  alcohol  abuse among pupils, the following were indicated: suspension from school, conducting talks, conducting focus group discussions, guidance and counselling, including topics on drug and alcohol education,  video shows on the effects of alcohol abuse, drama, revising the school rules to make them strict especially on alcohol abuse and other drugs, role play using anti-drug clubs, conducting life skills training and playing various games.

In view of the content on preventive education taught in schools, findings showed that facts about alcohol abuse were taught and their dangers, education, and life skills were taught in schools.

Views of Head Teachers

Findings showed alcohol abuse prevention education was mainly conducted through drama performances by pupils and talks by the Head teachers during school assembly. A Head teacher from school A indicated that anti-drug and alcohol abuse messages on posters are put up around the school premises to prevent pupils from abusing alcohol and other harmful drugs

In addition, others said they also taught pupils particular skills of saying no to drugs.  A Head teacher in a face to face interview said:

“Basically, we announce during assembly the dangers of alcohol and enforce disciplinary measures especially those who are caught abusing alcohol in school premises. In addition, we offer counselling to the pupils by calling the abuser or pupil in the presence of the guardians or parents as a preventive strategy of alcohol abuse in this school” (Head Teacher 1. School A)

Another Head teacher said:

Sir, this issue of alcohol abuse is of great concerns in most of the schools in Lusaka and the entire country. I strongly feel, Alcohol education and the dangers should be taught from grades 1 to 12 as one of the main topic and not a by the way. We have no clubs for anti-drugs and alcohol. We will introduce this term in an effort to prevent the abuse of alcohol in our school’’ (Head teacher 2 from School B)

 Views of Mental Health Programme Education officers

Findings from Mental Health officers revealed that they mainly used awareness talks or lectures, group counselling, video shows. It was also revealed that they occasionally used focus group discussions,. In a face to face interview, one mental health programme education officer said:

“We usually give talks or lectures on the dangers of different drugs and most importantly we provide information on alcohol abuse in schools, universities, in the community and at our hospital. We also use a lot of video shows depicting the negative consequences of drug and alcohol abuse. We work as a team to prevent alcohol and drug abuse and engaging the public health officers, Community Mobilisation officers, Drug Enforcement Commission. For example, every Tuesday, we offer counselling, treatment on drug and alcohol abusers. We offer training once per year in psychosocial counselling to people in the community and in different districts in Zambia so as to prevent alcohol and drug abuse”(Mental Health Officer 1)

With regard to the  school based preventive strategies on alcohol abuse, a  Mental  Health Programme Education Officer stressed  that skills such as how to say no to drug abuse and how to identify fellow pupils who abused alcohol in order to help them. A Mental Health Programme Education Officer further added:

The Alcohol Bill should be revised and implemented by government as a preventive strategy against the increased levels of alcohol consumption in the country. Also, the harmful effects of alcohol should be labeled on the bottles to reduce the abuse of alcohol among the adolescents or the pupils in the country. (Mental Health Programme Education Officer 2)

 Views of Parents

On the views of parents on school based alcohol preventive strategies most of the parents complained and indicated that the school authorities should punish, suspend pupils who abuse alcohol and indicated that the government should enact a bill of alcohol abuse as a preventive strategy and for the government to achieve this strategy, the pupils must be sensitized and become aware and more campaigns should be conducted. Also, stakeholders must be involved. By so doing, the abuse can be prevented among the pupils. Parents also indicated that the Ministry of General Education and School management should come up with educational and recreational facilities in order to keep the pupils busy.

One parent lamented:

‘I feel like punishing my son for reckless drinking, I do a lot talking to sensitize  the boy about the dangers of alcohol abuse, I told him that it sounds cool to drink but alcohol will ruin your future, your brain, liver, will be damaged and consequently you will die’ ( Parent 1.Father of 16 year boy)

Another Parent complained:

‘I want my daughter to know that I am disappointed and I usually tell her about the negative effects of abusing alcohol, one day the school authorities punished her when she was caught drank’

(Parent 2 mother of 15 year old girl)

Ethical considerations

Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Humanities and Social Sciences Ethics Committee of the University of Zambia. In addition, relevant authorities of the Ministry of Education also cleared the study. The District Education Board Secretary and head teachers allowed the researchers to visit sampled schools. The purpose of the study was clearly explained to participants and participation was voluntary. The researcher assured participants of strict confidentiality in relation to information obtained during the study.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Teachers and pupils views on school-based alcohol abuse preventive strategies in selected schools

The study showed that schools have measures put in place like punishment, suspension, forced transfer, talks on the dangers of alcohol especially during assembly meetings, strict school rules. However, the current strategies in schools need to be enhanced or revamped in order to prevent the abuse of alcohol in schools.

The bottom line is that, most of the strategies that are in schools are more of punishment or have to do with discipline and not educational per se. The Ministry of Education is first and foremost responsible to educate pupils on the dangers of alcohol abuse. The Ministry can be approached and sensitized about the problem of alcohol and drugs in schools. This would allow the Ministry of General Education to put in place policies and administrative procedures that will make it difficult for pupils to abuse alcohol. However, Jernigan, (2001) does not agree because he indicated that educational approaches have shown little effectiveness in reducing or preventing youth drinking and related consequences.

Pupil indicated that expulsion, punishment, suspension, incorporating topics on alcohol to all grades and drugs in all the grades and training peer educators and recreational facilities to keep the pupils busy other than the usual lessons. The findings are similar to Namasiku, (2014), Maimbo (2012).

Findings contradicted NIDA(1997) that preventions should not target pupils alone but also families, workplaces, workgroups, neighbours and communities. This means that pupils should not be the targets on preventive strategies but should include the Zambian citizens regardless of the status, race, tribe, gender, religion all the people should be educated on the dangers of alcohol abuse in the country.

The Ministry of Education policy document (1996:43) posits that  though the classroom focus tends to be more on the intellectual than emotional domain, the development of other life and social skills will depend largely on the whole ethos of the school and on its programme of extra-curricular activities such as sporting activities, clubs, societies, school debates, drama and cultural presentations, meetings of cultural and religious groups. Schools play an important role in promoting a sense of responsibility in pupils through the activities which go on outside the classroom and through school structures that give increasing levels of personal responsibility in their later years. The process of education can be divided in two parts: curricular activities and extra-curricular activities (Kalimaposo, 2011).

With regards the Policy Document for the Ministry of General Education, it is clear that the document puts emphasis on curricular and extra-curricular in order to prevent the abuse of alcohol in schools (Kalimaposo, 2022).

The study showed that pupils learnt the basic knowledge about alcohol abuse during assembly meetings; in addition the pupils felt that the Ministry of General Education and curriculum specialists needed to stretch it from Grade One to Grade 12 to prevent the abuse of alcohol in schools.

The study revealed that the topics on alcohol abuse and other related drugs are not incorporated in the school curriculum hence the strategies were not educational but authoritative and disciplinary in nature. In addition, the strategies did not bring so much change but little change in the behaviour of the pupils, pupils continued to abuse alcohol The study revealed that in two schools there were no educational posters on the dangers of alcohol abuse while the other school had posters but not enough to educate the pupils on the dangers of alcohol abuse. Posters needed to put in strategies places like in every classroom in every school and on notice boards, in the bathrooms, in the assembly Hall and strategically positioned places.

In a face to face interview Teachers indicated that guidance and counselling teachers should play a key role in preventing the abuse of alcohol among pupils by having more talks, lectures with the pupils, teachers and pupils also indicated that Anti- drugs clubs should be introduced and emphasized in all the three schools as a preventive strategy of alcohol abuse in schools.

Parents indicated that the school based alcohol abuse strategies include suspension, guidance and counselling, educating the children on the negative consequences of alcohol abuse. The study revealed that parents were aware of the dangers of alcohol abuse and the negative consequences of alcohol among to pupils or their children. Parents also suggested they should be involved when handling cases of alcohol abuse in schools as a preventive strategy or with a view to reducing the abuse of alcohol abuse among pupils. Another parent indicated that a pupil who abused alcohol should be expelled from school and not transfered to another school because the same problem would be transferred to another school.

Gebremicheal, (2016) further added that in reducing alcohol abuse, affective education should involve implementation of activities for the adolescents or the young people that help to improve self- esteem, inter-personal growth and an informed decision making for a specific target group. The approach relies on introducing increased activities which could help to improve self-confidence rather than factual information on alcohol and substance use and its associated consequences. The approach further considers teaming and research as a strategy of involving groups to take away from a specific behaviour which they were engaged in.

In an interview with the Mental Health specialists, they indicated that Alcohol Bill should be revised and implemented by government as a preventive strategy against the increased levels of alcohol consumption in the country especially among the young. These study findings concur with Seth and Rick (2005) who indicated that health promotion exercise was one of public health measures employed to address health risks among the public. Health promotion is the science and art of helping people to change their life style to achieve optimal health. The health promotion strategy was to improve health wellbeing through impacting four domains of health that includes physical, social, psychological and personal factors. The health promotion strategy baselines findings from the study like level of exposure, knowledge gap, attitude of respondents, perceiving fear or danger, perceived behaviour control and future intention to practice contribute to the domains impacting alcohol and substance use behaviour.

CONCLUSION

The study has shown that the preventive strategies mostly used for alcohol abuse education in schools were talks during the School Assembly meetings though pupils indicated that it was not regularly done, also guidance and counselling and suspension were the main strategies in the two schools. These strategies were largely characterized by one way communication, that is, from head teachers during assembly with less interaction among pupils. The study has revealed that peer pressure was the major factor leading pupils to abuse alcohol. The study is in support with Erikson theory on peer pressure. Therefore, alcohol abuse preventive strategies should be more interactive with the pupils in the sense that pupils should be informed, sensitized, and educated on the dangers of alcohol abuse.

The study has revealed that the school based alcohol abuse preventive strategies mainly in schools were talks during the assembly meeting,  and guidance and counselling. The preventive strategies were done by head teachers and pupils did not have peer educators to sensitize or create awareness among the pupils.

The present study aimed at developing school based alcohol abuse preventive strategies on pupils in selected schools in Lusaka district to prevent the current problem by exploring the prevalence and identifying factors contributing to the abuse of alcohol among pupils. The current study confirmed that the abuse of alcohol was real and is of great concern among the pupils. Thus, as part of attaining study objectives, the study has designed and developed a strategy that could address the various factors through programme and policy arrangements so as to prevent alcohol abuse. This study would serve as a baseline in the intervention to respond to alcohol abuse problems. Other findings revealed that sensitization has not been adequately done especially by the schools, which in most times are areas of the vice. The study revealed that sensitization was done especially when a pupil was caught abusing alcohol. It is of great importance to mention that topics on alcohol abuse and other dangerous drugs or substances should be compulsory and not to a specific grade but all grades.

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