Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s exhortation to the school authorities in the State to focus on creating awareness against drugs among students right from the beginning of the new academic year has come in the backdrop of an alarming concern about drug abuse on campuses.
Parents and teachers alike are confused as to how to deal with the increasing problem of drugs. More bewildering is that the gender difference is thinning among those falling prey to drugs.
Concerted efforts are advised to tackle the alarming situation, especially as synthetic drugs like MDMA have begun to make their way to the campuses in Kerala. Social workers dealing with children warn that mere awareness creation alone will not help prevent the situation from worsening.
“The situation has changed so much that even parents are finding it tough to identify drug abuse among their children. Adolescents who are prone to drugs cleverly avoid their parents,” said Childline district coordinator Anwar Karakkadan.
With the children escaping the surveillance of their parents, the onus falls largely on the school authorities. The government decision to appoint mentors among teachers is widely welcomed.
But mentoring is no alternative to counselling. The situation, if handled by untrained teachers who fail to evaluate the students from a non-judgemental position, can lead to devastation.
“Mentoring is a good idea. But teachers should be trained to handle the situation. They should have an empathetic approach. They should have the necessary communication skills to navigate the problems of their children,” said Suhail Babu, a social worker and therapeutic counselor.
Mr. Babu said that unless trained, the teachers could be confused between assumptions and understanding. “They will be able to move strategically only if they are trained,” he said.
Although several schools have counselors, their number is abysmal. Social workers say that time demands the number of counselors in proportion to the number of students.
“At least there should be one male and female counselor each on every campus,” said Mr. Karakkadan. “Studies as well as our experience shows that more attention should be given to the mental health of children. The situation can be dangerous when a student with weak mental health falls for drugs,” he says.
Social workers warn that teachers with normal teaching responsibilities cannot handle the situation scientifically. They will be overburdened. It will be like the child welfare police officers in police stations. “Two police officers are given extra responsibility to handle children’s issues. But it has yielded poor results,” says Mr. Karakkadan.
According to Mr. Babu, school social work approach where parents and teachers work in unison will be ideal to tackle the situation effectively. “We are yet to adopt such an approach, though we have taken bits and pieces of school social work approach,” he says.
