The Role of the Media in Fighting Drug Abuse among Jobless Youths in the Nabuttiti Slums in Kampala City. A Case Study of National Media and Television

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Communications - Mass Media, grade: 4.0/5.0, Kampala International University, course: Mass Communication and Journalism, language: English, abstract: The study focuses on 'The Role of the Media in Fighting against Drug Abuse among the Youth'. It is based on its objectives namely: to find out the causes of increased drug abuse among the youths in Nabuttiti slum, Kampala city; to find out the effects of drug abuse; and lastly to establish how the media fights drug abuse among youths. The study is descriptive in nature. It uses a sample size of 100 respondents among which included youths, local leaders and youth leaders both male and female. The researcher selected the study respondents using a purposive sampling technique. Interview and questionnaire methods were used to gather the primary data, and documentary review was used for the collection of secondary data. The findings revealed that the majority (65%) reported that they were involved in using at least some kinds of drugs. The study found that alcohol was the most abused drug by the youths. The study also found that the majority (38%) of the respondents reported drugs being obtained from drug users who distributed them in hope of getting some money. Findings also reported that the majority (30%) of the respondents strongly agree that family background, stress, peer pressure in which youths lived, influenced them to drug abuse. It was found out that drug abuse causes loss of jobs, causes school dropout and also leads to engaging in bad acts. The study recommends that strict laws should be undertaken by the government to curb drug abuse, strengthening the laws on drug trafficking, parents being responsible for the acts of their children, empowering communities with techniques of identifying drug users, designing awareness campaigns and sensitization and encouraging media to reduce or eliminate the appearance of substances.

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