The Parow police in partnership with Parow High School recently hosted a two-day drug awareness education programme.
The event was held at the school.
Capt Kevin Williams, Parow police spokesperson, presented the programme.
“The reason for this was to empower all grades at the school against drugs,” Williams says.
Approximately 1 100 learners were reached during the two-day programme held on Tuesday 12 April and Wednesday 20 April from 08:45 to 10:30.
“The purpose of the drug awareness programme was to foster closer partnership between the school and the police as well as to create a safer school environment. Secondly, to empower learners to say no to drug abuse and the prevention of substance abuse,” says Williams.
The sector commander of the area, WO Marko Geldenhuys, arranged the event in partnership with the discipline officer at the school. One of the observations made was the discipline standard of the learners, which Williams says was outstanding and commendable.
“The Parow police wishes to express our appreciation for a job well done by the principal and educators.”
An audio-visual presentation was also shown to all the learners. Amanda Krüger, school principal, says “as a society we need to face reality – that learners are vulnerable and easy targets and therefore, we need to step in. We realised that the lockdown period had a big impact on our learners’ well-being. The fact that they were not at school regularly since March 2020 and their parents or guardians were not always home to look after them either, means they were exposed to practices they were not familiar with.
“One does not always realise it, but the school is a safe haven for learners. We became aware that learners are more and more confronted with the use of drugs, especially cannabis.”
“As educators of Parow High School we feel it is our responsibility and duty to inform our learners of the dangers of using drugs and it is part of our job to equip our learners to make responsible choices. That is why we decided to launch a drug awareness programme and ask the police to assist,” Krüger says.
She says the feedback from learners is that they appreciate the interaction, for the information given to them gave them more insight and understanding.
“Many of the learners who are approached by drug dealers to buy cannabis are also afraid to report and therefore do not ask questions.
“We try to give our learners an ‘open door’ to report if they are being harassed or are even already a user and need help. The police team will come and talk to our learners on a regular basis to raise awareness and they are also willing to give support when learners need help,” Krüger says.
Williams says schools in the Parow area can contact the police for similar presentations at their respective schools. He says he is able to present any programme from Grade R to matric. Schools can call the police for an appointment to arrange the educational programme, the police say.
