P

eople who often take medicine for their muscles may know Zenith or Carnophen, the brand names of medicines for acute muscle illness. Aica Aibon is a brand of glue that is used for attaching wood and other hard materials.

But teenagers and children also take those substances to make themselves '€œhappy'€ since they boost the mood and have calming and '€œfly'€ effects. This is because those brands contain chemical substances, such as the tranquilizer meprobamate, which is the active ingredient in Zenith.

Besides being cheap, the substances are freely sold in drug stores and grocery stores. Sometimes vendors even sell them near schools.

What is wrong with these youngsters? Or what is wrong with parents, communities and schools? Are parents, communities and schools so that bad children must find happiness from glue and medicine?

These findings are found in areas far from cities '€” Bengkulu in the case of glue and South Kalimantan in the case of Zenith '€” although reports have shown similar consumption elsewhere. The cases were highlighted by principals in both provinces in an event of the Parenting Education Directorate (a new unit under the Education and Culture Ministry).

In addition, the principals said even parents took Zenith for the fly effect and that the abuse of the glue also occured among elementary students.

Students who often lapse into this kind of problem are usually those with high absence rates and are less motivated to learn.

Overload of subjects and content from elementary level, added to a monotone teaching method, may contribute to the situation. Another factor is peer pressure, it seems, to be '€œmodern'€.

The principals echoed many complaints that parents like to hand over educational responsibility from the family to the school. In 1935, leading education figure Ki Hajar Dewantara reminded us that the family was the first and main educational place, which first and mainly transformed the values of children through daily habits and instructions.

Unfortunately, the home is often the first and main place where parents display habits like watching unproductive and noneducative television programs, smoking in front of children, spoon-feeding children over 5 years old and riding motorcycles without helmets along with their children.

Moreover, the low involvement of parents in school is another issue. Communication between parents and schools is still generally lacking, especially regarding information on students'€™ progress learning and other conduct in school.

Learning from some effective schools in Indonesia, School-Based Management (MBS), can be a reference. MBS is a framework of school, parents and community partnership, bringing about a sense of belonging. Simply put, the more participative the home and school community, the deeper the sense of belonging and sense of responsibility. The more sense of responsibility, the more dedication will be given to children'€™s education.

The likelihood that students will be motivated and engaged is increased to the extent that their teachers, family and friends effectively support their purposeful involvement in learning and in school. Engaging schools promote a sense of belonging by personalizing instruction, showing an interest in students'€™ lives and creating a supportive, caring social environment.