Child drug addict gets counselling

Danisa Masuku

A boy from a school in Bulawayo who appeared in a video that went viral while appearing drunk from substance abuse is coping and recovering very well and now focused on his education after he received counselling.

The boy’s grandmother from Bulawayo’s Old Lobengula suburb who is a vendor and whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the minor boy heaped praise on B-Metro for running the story in August this year.

Narrating her grandson’s recovery the granny said after the story was published she was inundated with calls from people who were inquiring on how they could help her grandson.

She said the counselling sessions bore fruit for her grandson.

“The video of my grandson went viral as such wrong and unverified information was being peddled on social media. However, B-Metro stepped in and reported correctly and as a popular publication people came to offer counselling and they referred my grandson for counselling.

“I took him to a private counsellor to rehabilitate him for him to rediscover himself because he was wasted on drugs,” she said.
She said after undergoing counselling sessions, she noted a turning point in his behaviour and school performance.

“After undergoing counselling sessions his behaviour is gradually changing. He is doing Grade Seven and from my assessment he seems to be improving.

“Most of the times when he is dismissed from school he gets down doing his school work,” she said.
She said she now closely monitors the boy.

“Most of the time I check on him to find out what he would be doing and who he plays with. I’m also in constant touch with his school authorities to keep abreast with how he is behaving and pursuing his studies given that this is his final year at primary level,” she said.

As part of Government measures to curb drug and substance abuse at schools, Director for Communication and Advocacy for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Taungana Ndoro said they would continue to use a multi-sectoral approach in implementing the mandate of the national committee on drugs and substance abuse.

“We need to emphasise that the issue of drugs and substance abuse cannot be handled by the education sector alone but it needs a strong collaboration with families, community structures, school system and other sectors.

“The advantage of having such an approach is that our children would benefit from the collaboration of community leaders, police, social welfare, health, and churches. As a ministry we are playing a supporting role in moulding the character of the child and monitoring their conduct. We would like to urge parents and guardians to report any child who takes or is spotted in suspicious gangs of drug abusers to school authorities and police,” he said.

He said they had also improved security measures at school.

“We conduct thorough searches of their satchels and anything that they bring to the school. We have also improved our surveillance on drugs and substance abuse and encourage anyone who spots either a pupil or a staff member taking drugs to report either to the school headmaster, deputy headmaster or to the police.

“We have also established hotlines for whistleblowers for people to report pupils or staff members who partake in drug and substance abuse. Our hotline is 317 or 393,” he said.

He said as a ministry they had also activated peer education for the prevention and management of drug and substance abuse at schools.