SHANNISE DZOBO
MASVINGO – While the issue of drug abuse among Zimbabwe’s youths had previously been confined to the periphery, the exponential increase in abuse of drugs and other substances in high schools has awaken society amid demands for urgent attention and action from authorities and society itself.
The recent suspensions of eight school girls at the elite Dominican Convent School in Harare last month after they were caught using drugs during a school trip in Nyanga is being viewed as just a tip of the iceberg. Many people are concerned at the frightening growth of drug abuse in schools across the country. Drug peddlers having reportedly invaded schools selling drugs disguised as chocolates and cakes among other items popular among students.
Masvingo Police Spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa told the Midweek Watch that they have been doing a lot of anti-drug abuse awareness campaigns across schools, churches and communities so that they are made aware of the effects of abusing drugs and the consequences if they are found using or in possession of drugs.
“As police we are doing a lot of school visits educating students on the issue of abusing drugs and their effects on human behavior and we are also penetrating to churches and communities so that we also engage the youths on the consequences that one faces after being caught using or selling drugs,” said Dhewa.
Roman Catholic Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndlovu of Harare Archdiocese who went to address the situation at St Dominics Convent in Harare told those who attended the mass that children should influence each other for the better and stop drug abuse. He urged parents that are in the chain of selling drugs to school children to stop as the practice was destroying lives of otherwise innocent children. Archbishop Ndlovu further urged parents to keep a close eye on their children despite how they might be busy in their work stations.
“Children should influence each other for the better stop drug and substance abuse and they should trust and confide in their parents in any issue of concern in their lives and to those parents that are getting ill wealth form selling drugs to school children and destroying their lives, you might be rich but you will get nowhere with such behaviour because that sin cannot be forgiven,” said Ndlovu.
A local educationist, Vincent Maweni, told The Midweek Watch that the issue of drug abuse is very prevalent in various institutions. He said that it has been noted that most students that were idle during the Covid 19 pandemic engaged in drug abuse while some students that are enrolling into local schools from outside Zimbabwe were more exposed to drug life hence they are bringing negative influence to other students.
“The issue of drug abuse has become a topical issue and as teachers we have noted that students got to know about drugs during the Covid 19 era and that made them engage in drug abuse and another issue is the children who are coming from SA and enrolling with our institutions are influencing other children to use drugs,” said Maweni.
He went on to encourage parents and guardians to regularly check on what their children will be doing and be very strict on who they hang around with during their spare time.
Kudzai Masinire a Medical practitioner in Masvingo, said that drug and substance abuse is a huge crisis globally. He said that while local school children are not capable of running drug cartels, they were at the mercy of drug peddlers.
“School going children and teenagers at large are now at the risk of being dependent on drugs and as medical practitioners we are at the end of the tail in this situation hence we note that there are numerous effects which affect their physical and mental being which then destroys their wellbeing and that of their close family members,” said Masinire.
“This situation needs a wholistic approach from all essential ministries that govern our youths and children in general so that as medical practitioners we are able to flash out the drugs when there is still time.”
Speaking to a member of Civic Society Organisations Acknowledge Mawere the co-founder and director of Masvingo Root of Development Organisation Trust (MARODO) said that school children are getting involved in drug abuse mostly because of different stresses which they are not able to cope with.
“Most school going children are engaging in drug abuse because they have poor mental health coping skills therefore children need to be fully equiped with strong, unharmful and health stress management skills because it will enable them to effectively and effeciently help themselves in every situation they find themselves in,” said Mawere.
Anderson Chipatiso the Director of Information and Public Relations of Great Zimbabwe University also added that as an institution they are quite fortunate that they rarely receive issues to do with substance and drug abuse on any of their campus and this is because the institution has a strong and experienced team that does robust counselling throughout the whole semester guiding the students on these issues.
