Sunday, April 2 2006 11:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: President A P J Abdul Kalam has advised parents to be watchful about behavioural change in their children lest they fall prey to drug abuse.

"Parents have to ensure that the child is kept fully physically and mentally occupied for 18 hours a day, including the study period in class," he said in his address at a seminar on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Drugs (NDPS) here.

According to Kalam, young people use drugs to satisfy issues related to their adolescent development.

"These include: taking risks; demonstrating independence; developing values distinct from parents and other authorities; signalling entry into a peer group; seeking novel and exciting experiences; and satisfying curiosity." He said, "This is the time their parents have to pour their parental love, be watchful and see and pattern change in their behaviour of the son or daughter.

"At first instance when they notice the change, they have to start discussion with the child various problems and enhance their communication with the child," he said.

"Parents must also find productive channelling of the energy of the child to healthy games and sports, fine arts such as painting, music, dance etc. and participation in socially relevant activities apart from the main task of studies," he suggested.

"Parents must also have a mechanism to assess whether the child in this period is going to the clas or not. Such pro-active step will definetely prevent the child from moving in a negative direction," he advised.

According to the President, teachers have also a great responsibility in shaping the character of their students especially during the adolescent period.

"Any academic performance variation in the student must be noticed and the counselling process must immediately commence," he said.

Recalling Muthu Iyer, his own teacher at an elementary school at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, who used to meet his father to enquire about him if he did not attend the class, Kalam said, "The teacher must have the patience to talk to the parents and get some feedback about the behaviour of thestudent at home."

He said, "It is very difficult to follow this system in the modern environment. However, periodically parents-teacher meet is essential for promoting the well being of the child."

The President felt our educational system should be so oriented particularly at the early stages to instill in the young minds a fear of the terrible dangers involved in pursuing drug abuse and how it destroys an individual's life indubitably.

He said, "Our educationists need to look at the syllabi particularly at the school levels to see if adequate attention has been given to deal with this problem by making the impressionable minds aware of the dangers involved."

According to Kalam, "The basic philosophy should be to ensure that adequate educational inputs are made available to each individual particularly the younger general early enough so that the various dangers involved are imprinted in the minds once for all."

He also favoured youngsters attending religious services as those who consider religion to be important tend to be less likely than others to smoke, drink or use drugs.