“They call me a glue kid, but I don’t like it”: Experiences of glue use among street-connected adolescents in Merauke Regency, Indonesia

Background Glue-sniffing among street-connected children and adolescents is a neglected public health and social issue with acute toxicity, entrenched stigma, and long-term life-course harms. In Merauke (South Papua), everyday practices, peer dynamics, and social labeling remain under-described. Objective To explore lived experiences of street-connected children and adolescents who use inhalants in Merauke, focusing on initiation, accessibility, peer processes, harms, return to glue use, and perceived stigma. Methods We conducted an inductive descriptive qualitative study with children and adolescents aged 12–18 years who reported glue use in the prior three months. Participants were recruited via gatekeeper-facilitated snowball sampling until information power indicated sufficiency. Data comprised semi-structured in-depth interviews (audio-recorded) and field notes; brief member checking closed each session and after the analysis. Transcripts were analyzed using inductive content analysis in NVivo 15. Results Twenty-two participants (19 male, 3 female) shared narratives; among the nine who recalled their age at initiation, first glue use occurred between 5 and 12 years. Participants reported inhaling commercially available adhesive products. Five categories emerged: (1) Early Exposure, Easy Access, and Peer Influence (Early Initiation, Easy Availability, and coercive invitations); (2) Everyday Glue Use and Its consequences (earmarking daily income for glue, polysubstance patterns, concealment, somatic/perceptual disturbances); (3) Social dynamics and peer support (in group solidarity, ambivalent community/enforcement responses, painful labeling); (4) Returning to the cycle (peer-triggered return, difficulty quitting, and strong attachment to glue); and (5) Hopes and multilevel strategies (age-gated sales and basic-needs support). Conclusions Glue-sniffing in Merauke is sustained by permissive retail environments and peer-mediated cues set against structural deprivation. Effective prevention requires integrated policy, peer, service, and social-protection responses tailored to local contexts.