It Takes A Village To Raise A Maltese Drug Addict
How often do we dismiss the fact that the drug addict living down our street could have been us? Matthew Brincat asks some of the difficult questions about Maltese society – ones with answers that could be contributing to the problem of drug addiction on the islands.
Cover photo: Aaron Burden
What separates you from having become that drug addict? Things could have turned out very differently based on a small choice you made, or a huge setback you had along the way. There’s no law which says that drug addiction can’t happen to you, or to someone you hold very close. After all – we’re all born equally, aren’t we?
“If you tell a child to not to do one thing, you can rest assured that they’ll focus on how to go for that one thing”
Matthew Brincat, recovered addict
When I was young, people used to come to our schools to educate us about the danger of drugs; dressed up as some drug-policing mascot that the Health Department wanted to create. For me, this approach made everything look ridiculous – it fuelled a kind of admiration for the drug user.
Sometimes if you tell a child to not to do one thing, you can rest assured that they’ll focus on how to go for that one thing. Curiosity has always enchanted mankind’s dreams and desires. Exploring uncharted territories, doing new things that give back a kick of pleasurable fear, is a thrill for most people.
I was born in a Maltese, middle-class, working, and loving family. Like most families at the time, my father worked 16 hours a day, just to offer us better opportunities. I had a happy childhood, truly. Yet, when the local education system, together with a strict Catholic background, came gradually into play, my life started to take a different shape.
The pressure of having to become someone, achieving something, are all expectations imposed on us at an early age. There is pressure from a society that wants more workers and leaders. Relatively speaking, there’s very little emotional support, or life-skills, offered to the child that has just started to discover life and emotions. And that is where pain starts to nurture itself inside of young people.
I grew up struggling with endless standards – many of which are still felt today. You have to keep silent about your dreams, because otherwise you might be ridiculed. We’re indoctrinated with ideas like: “boys don’t cry”, “girls have to have children”. We all go through it.
Parents do things out of love, yet for children these social tropes become a standard to reach, and expectations to fulfil. Internal growth must start at home. It is there, that values such as honesty, compassion, and tolerance, take root.
“So much money has been spent on prevention of drug abuse, but what about addressing the cure?”
Matthew Brincat, recovered addict
Even throughout my reckless drug abuse, those values didn’t leave me. Although I know it is hard, parents today should strive step out of their conventional roles – try to reach a level of friendship with their children. This exists now within some families, and that beauty of openness between the members is heart-warming.
What makes a “normal” human being start using heroin? I’ve been through it, so I can speak to why it happens. It’s likely the same thing that makes the abusive husband beat his wife, or the alcoholic wife drink just to cope with her day. The drugs, the beatings, the whiskey bottles – they’re not the problem, they are just the cause. The root of these circumstances is the pain of not being able to be who we truly are. Unfortunately it is a vicious cycle that is tough to emerge from. So much money has been spent on prevention of drug abuse, but what about addressing the cure?
Malta has been experiencing a rapid growth, in mostly every aspect, throughout the last thirty years. But the children of drug addicted parents that have to run around in cars while their parents search and hassle for the next score have not made it to the front page of our awareness. This “problem” has been left to its own devices.
Our educational, and health systems still lack from offering the proper support needed to tackle the disease at its root. There is the saying; “children are our future”. So I have to ask; how are we nurturing this future?
Children spend more time at school, private lessons, and studying than they actually spend at home. So I believe that both the educational and health systems should work hand in hand to provide the young generation with the emotional support they need to preempt them falling into unhealthy patterns.
Students should be provided with inspiration as well, instead of only information about their field of study. Instead of the conventional approach of – “you should do this, in this way”, a more lenient and creative method should be used.
I had the pleasure of meeting teachers/lecturers at MCAST – they don’t even use these terms to refer to themselves. Instead, they work to integrate and blend themselves with the students, with a friendly and open-minded approach. If there’s a role, there’s heirarchy. If there’s heirarchy, there’s friction and cause for rebellion. It might be subtle, but it’s there.
One of the greatest things educators can teach is their own life experience. If we speak to our children, our students, out of our own experience – what we’ve been through, instead of second hand borrowed teachings – we open a world of deeper understanding between us all.
“I am someone who roamed the streets, desperately in search of a fix, for 13 years. I am talking from that experience”
Matthew Brincat, recovered addict
At the end of the day we all go through similar emotions and situations – only different circumstances. This fact presents us with a level of tolerance for each other and ourselves that should make us unashamed to express in any way we feel we need to. Unashamed of our thoughts and unashamed of our feelings.
It’s time to educate ourselves about the hazards that exist in Maltese society by providing the necessary supporting spaces, by teaching life-skills – including understanding and the coming to terms with emotions, sexuality, health and mental awareness, among many other topics.
I am no psychologist, doctor, or even university graduate. I am someone who roamed the streets, desperately in search of a fix, for 13 years. I am speaking from that experience, and from that of countless others like me that I’ve met along the way. Some survived it, many didn’t. For that reason I am here, so that maybe we can get to a better place – starting with ourselves.