THE CURRENT SITUATION OF YOUTH IN TRIVANDRUM DISTRICT

Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala, offers a vibrant environment for its youth. With a mix of modern amenities and traditional charm, Trivandrum provides numerous opportunities for young people to thrive and explores their interests. Apart from academics and carrier prospects, Trivandrum offers a lively cultural scene with various events, music festivals, and art exhibitions that appeal to the youth.

Trivandrum’s youth actively engage in community initiatives, volunteer work, and social activism. Contributing to the city’s social fabric and development. Overall, Trivandrum fosters a dynamic environment that encourages the growth, exploration and involvement of its youthful population.

According to the 2011 census,  Trivandrum had population of 3,301,427 of which male and female were 1,581,678 and 1,719,749 respectively. In 2001 census, Trivandrum had a population of 3,234,356 of which males were 1,569,917 and remaining 1,664,439 were females. The number of youth in the city according to the census is 1,452,339.

Substance abuse and addiction in youth is a significant concern with long term consequences. Factors such as peer pressure, trauma, mental health issues, and accessibility contribute to its prevalence. Early intervention, education, and support systems are crucial in addressing and preventing youth substance abuse and addiction. Youth involvement in can vary widely depending on factors such as location, socioeconomic status, and individual circumstances.

The ratio of youth in committing crimes, addictions and usage of drugs has been increasing rapidly the consumption of alcohol is high as 18.3%. the most affecting alcohol use is peer pressure. Drug addiction is a very severe problem which is affecting all the aspects of the society. It has received greater attention in recent times due to the proliferating magnitude of the problem and changing trends in usage of drugs particularly in youth. Drug addiction is not confined to a single person or region. Its number could be varied and found in any age, gender, ethnicity, social class or religion. There are various factors like peer pressure masses high aspirations, unemployment and changing societal order are continuously enhancing this particular menace.

Drug abuse is a complex phenomenon, which has various social, cultural, biological, geographical, historical and economic aspects. The disintegration of the old joint family system, the absence of parental love and care in modern families where both parents are working, the decline of old religious and moral values, etc

On the survey report of department of exercise, government of Kerala 2020-21, has reported that Cannabis is the most consumed drug product among adolescents and tobacco (especially ‘cool’) is the trigger product which influences to use Cannabis in future. In order to identify the drug abuse in early stage, abused respondents recommended Counselling, De addiction Treatment, Strengthening Enforcement activity and Medical Screening/Test as the best methods which help to reduce the drug abuse in the society.

Online gaming has emerged as a popular and successful source of entertainment and played by people of all ages, especially by youth. The information that there is a neutral online gaming effect in Kerala.. its analyzed that continuous playing will causes its addiction and addiction to online games affects various dimensions of health, increases sleeplessness, and reduces direct social interactions. On the positive side online games helps in enhancing mental development, critical thinking and stress relief also. As an outcome, it can be concluded that the online gaming has its positive and negative impacts in the real world. The youth is affected to addiction in various ways.

Online Gaming is also used as a tool to escape from stress in life .As everything has an opposite side online gaming also has. Due to excessive usage of online gaming people get addicted to it which will cause many health issues like vision problems, headache, and neck pain etc and also mental issues which lead to many gaming disorders. So our study is done to check whether there is any impact of online gaming and its addiction among youth in Trivandrum.

Drug abuse and addiction in youth pose significant challenges to individuals, families and society as a whole, the consequences can be severe , ranging from impaired cognitive function and physical health  issues to strained  relationships and legal problems. Prevention efforts early intervention, and access to evidence-bases treatment programs are crucial in addressing the issue effectively.

REFERENCES

Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiruvananthapuram_district

Censes 2011.  https://www.census2011.co.in/census/district/284-thiruvananthapuram.html

Statisticstimes. 2024 https://statisticstimes.com/demographics/india/kerala-population.php

Jasleen Dua. 2022 the problem of drug addiction in India: consequences and effective measures.

Vimukthi survey report. 2021department of excise , government of Kerala