Kerala to train school counsellors to keep students off drugs

With easier access to suppliers over phone, drug use among students seems to have gone up

Prema V.T., a school counsellor at Government High School, Chala, says her understanding after speaking to students and their parents is that drug abuse among schoolchildren has increased since the start of COVID-19. “Earlier, students would go to school, and studies and various activities would keep them engaged. Now, they are at home, with lots of time on hand and not many ways to burn their energy. They are also hooked to mobile phones. It does not take much time for substances to reach them...all students and drug suppliers need to stay in touch is a mobile phone.” Prema’s concern is not an isolated one. In yet another initiative to check the increasing prevalence of substance abuse among schoolchildren, the Women and Child Development Department and the Social Justice Department have joined hands to equip school counsellors to identify early and manage high-risk behaviour of schoolchildren.