Cinema and citizenship: overcoming drugs by the practice of sports

Abstract

Drug use is considered a serious social problem that requires policies for its control. Such policies cover different areas and sectors of society, considering public safety, social support, and health, among other aspects. This article reports on the presence of drug users in a student community and discusses actions that can be taken to provide guidance and support for users, enabling them to be reinserted in the social community. The work was carried out within the extension project Cinema and Citizenship: Drugs in the Family Environment, whose purpose was to develop citizenship and social inclusion by means of showing films portraying cases where the use of drugs was overcome using sports practice. A survey was made of films involving the theme of drugs and the role of sports practice in overcoming the problem. The films were exhibited at selected municipal, state, and private schools in the city of Santa Cruz. After showing the film to the students, a presentation was made concerning the use of drugs and the leisure options and help available in the city. The students were then asked to answer a short questionnaire about drug use. The activity was conducted at seven schools in Santa Cruz, with the participation of around 300 students, although only 220 completed the questionnaires. The average age of these 220 participants was 15.3±4.2 years, and 53% were female and 47% male. Concerning drug use, 96.3% said they had never used drugs, while only 3.7% said that they had used drugs. Over half of the young people (58.1%) reported knowing someone who used drugs, and 68.3% stated that they would try to help someone with problems associated with drugs, but only 19.1% confirmed that they had been able to help a colleague. The work of this project in the public schools of the city of Santa Cruz made a positive contribution in terms of the provision of guidance to the young people about the benefits of sports practice. In addition, it was possible to provide guidance to potentially socially vulnerable young people about the limited support services available in the city.