Abuse and Misuse – What do they mean to you?
We often hear of abuse and misuse. Drug abuse, misuse of equipment and the like. The truth is very few people do know the meaning. Very often they mistake misuse for abuse and vice versa.
Abuse is worse than misuse. Misuse usually progresses to abuse.
Misuse comes very often from not seeking to understand the manual of creator.
I ended up being a self-inflicted victim of misuse when I lost my molar after many years of using my teeth as a bottle cap opener. Although this had often done the job, it was clearly not the purpose for which my molars were created.
Abuse is often deliberate misuse. One of the areas of concern with mental health is substance abuse.
Dealing with the stresses of life often throw people into substance abuse. Very often the very things that we use to relieve stress can become an addiction leading to abuse.
Substance abuse occur when we use substances for purposes other than those they were created for. Sadly, the substances that people end up abusing the use of are most likely addictive.
The self-control that existed before the substance abuse is given up to the effect of the substance. The substance now is firmly seated on the driving seat of the unfortunate addict’s activities.
Instances abound of instructions not being followed because we feel we know better.
The other day I was taking the eldest set of learners (11-14 year olds) in a voluntary social enterprise. They displayed classic misuse and abuse of relationships.
I asked for volunteers to write the agreed class rules on the whiteboard.
A very self-confident one wrote “No electronics” on the board. A minute earlier she was in the midst of her clique sharing social media tips and enjoying being the centre of attraction. There could be no better a classic case of abuse. They all knew the rules and had agreed to them.
Misuse was shown when, rather than use their brains to solve the maths problems they were all well capable of solving, they resorted to attempts at cheating.
Given multiple choice questions they would not solve the problems. Rather they preferred to randomly guess the answers. The result was they performed below their individual ability. Learning was not retained.
Someone once said a group of people who were often with high qualifications were often merely informed but not educated.
When we are not sufficiently disciplined to fully understand why and how things are done the way the instructions from our guides recommend, we fall into misuse of them.
When we deliberately use something for a purpose it was not intended for we end up in abuse of that thing.
The young learners above resorted to using their mobile phones in class when they had all agreed that it was not expected. This was abuse of the trust that was placed on them keeping to a common agreement. I am certain there were either not aware of this significance or deliberately suppressed acting on any awareness in them.
All forms of abuse is willful misuse of privilege. Whether it is of living or non-living material, it arises from a strong desire to change that material from the use its creator intended.
As a result, abuse always ends up with negative consequences. When we abuse substances, the effects are there for all to see – corruption of outcomes, etc.
Misuse on the other hand may be unintentional. It mostly results from a lack of adequate knowledge. The good book says “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”.
The true question that should be asked in cases of misuse is “What is the reason for the lack of adequate knowledge, or adequate application of knowledge?”. Excellence is a lifestyle, not an event.
We do not neglect eating on following days because we have had a fabulous meal. Yet that is what a lot of us do when we have achieved excellence.
Excellence is always required to prevent misuse and abuse.
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