OPINION
Support, don’t punish
By Tania Charman
The drug problem here runs through most people’s lives. In a town like Hastings, substances in all forms are endemic, and it’s set to continue. Drugs numb emotional pain. Unconsciously, adults who were children of abuse and trauma will seek substances to resolve that pain. Children witness drug abuse every day, often in their own homes.
Initiatives such as Project Adder are worthwhile, but are they truly getting into the communities that need help? No, not really. To see the depth of the problem, the police would need to reside themselves on these social housing estates and in areas where drugs are prevalent. These estates have become the top destination for the most damaged and needy people in our country, and it’s impossible to have a normal life in these communities.
The best thing you can ever give is a full parent. What that means, only those who have worked in the health and social care support services truly know. But schools could be funded to offer learning programmes to parents – the earlier the better, and with incentives in the community, including drug use prevention, and social, psychological and emotional literacy.
Bring back the family intervention projects and the court referral system for young people. Above all, support and don’t punish. In my experience, all families in need should have a mentor, a support worker to steer them away from danger, connect with positive activities, and stop them falling into ‘that way of life’. This is a bottom-up approach that is long overdue. If we work 70% with the family and 30% with the child, we will find the solutions are much more effective.
There are many psycho-therapists trained and ready to assist, should the government choose to finally recognise these professionals as they do psychologists. It’s about time they started to realise how much help people need to live their best life, not just those on drugs. I would even go as far as to say that psychotherapy should be a mandatory part of life, like careers advice at school – almost like a psychological check-up before progressing into adult life and education. Time for a curriculum review in schools to embrace those challenges to our mental health that we face from the fast and relentless society we live in. Everyone needs to be resilient and robust just to get by these days.
• Tania Charman is a former councillor on both East Sussex County Council and Hastings Borough Council. She now works as Secretary and Coordinator of the GAP Project for young people in Ore.
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