Role of Mass Media on Prevalence of Illicit Drug Use among Public Secondary School Students in Kisumu

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of mass media on the prevalence of drug abuse among students in public secondary schools in Kisumu City. The study was based on a descriptive survey design. The target population for this study was 5097 students and 18 teacher counsellors in public secondary schools in Kisumu City. Stratified random sampling, simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to select a sample size of 240 students and four teacher counsellors from form two, form three and form four classes. Frequency distribution and percentages were used to analyse data. The study concludes that exposure to mass media displaying drug content influenced students to abuse drugs. Thus mass media significantly influenced the prevalence of drug abuse among students in secondary schools in Kisumu City. The study recommends that the administrators of day secondary schools in Kisumu City should closely monitor and counsel students so as to eradicate the use of drugs among students. The government should pass laws that regulate the content of the media.