A school director asked the police to guard the students of drug dealers

The consumption of psychoactive substances among students tends to become a phenomenon, which schools are not ready to manage. The director of a school in Romania has requested that the police should be present around the school, to lower the risk, and the mayor speaks publicly about the phenomenon.

In Călărași commune, in Dolj county, a rare thing happens: the mayor of the locality frequently refers, in his posts on social networks, to the consumption of psychoactive substances, especially among adolescents, and the school director supports his approach.

At the beginning of the week, the local police in the commune received precise tasks to supervise the school area, to prevent absenteeism on the one hand, and on the other to discourage trafficking and consumption of psychoactive substances that suspect they would take place in the area. At the high school in the commune, a technological high school, students from several neighboring localities come, most commuters.

The subject of the consumption of psychoactive substances is a very sensitive one, recognizes the director of the “Petre Baniță” Technological High School, Florin Onete, because, although it happens, and not rare, for teachers to suspect certain students of consumption, the levers they have available to make them very little. Preventive actions have been carried out and will continue to be carried out – one, to which the students of the students were invited, took place on Wednesday, March 5 -, but says the director, it takes more, so it is glad that the local police will be even more present in the area.

“We only remain with this suspicion”

“We also had situations – I give you a concrete case, because we have to make a common front of this aspect that is more and more frequent – as a student for example, which was bad. I went with him to the hospital, asked the doctors there – sir, can we be collected, can we see if this child has consumed some forbidden substances? No-No, we are not allowed to do this! – And then we only remain with this suspicion. I cannot tell the parent – sir, you see that your child is suspected of consuming something! – Because I do not have a tangible proof, some clear analyzes from which this is to be found. And then we turn into this circle of suspicions in which we assume, and the City Hall assumes, and, here, the reality seems to confirm these suspicions, but, without evidence, again, it is quite difficult. Especially in this democracy in which you realize what it would mean, as a director, to make a statement … “, Explains the director how difficult the problem is to be addressed.

The director also explains how to proceed in the event of a suspicion. In case a teacher observes an abnormal behavior of the student, the school counselor is notified. He gates a discussion with the student, informs colleagues in the school, contacts the parents, are exposed to them and, “Eventually we also pay a warning to the police and we say – you see, the children … from class X, Y, Z have abnormal behavior, to see how they can manage. We announce the National Police, they have duties ”, explains the director.

At the direct discussions with the parents they also encountered surprises. “It just doesn’t interest him, many times, says that There is no such thing, it’s impossible. There are happy cases where parents are with children at home, and they are quite few. Many are left with grandparents, many parents are going to work abroad. Imagine what it means to be a 16-year-old teenager, subjected to entourage, to stay at home with a grandfather who is over 65-70 years old. What authority can still have in front of that child? There is a lot to say. To know that these cases are common I think in most high schools, but we always mediate them, we call, we do actions and I am glad that after all the time they understand that the local police must be permanent and even inside the schools. And I asked them, not only in breaks, during the hours, to come, to do controls ”, adds the director.

What is really missing is the possibility of intervening effectively, because of rules that provide for the completion of documents and reports of all kinds does not lack the system, believes the director.

“And those from anti -drug (n. Red. – National Anti -Drug Agency, an institution in this period in reorganization, as a result of the adoption of a new strategy that wants to place greater emphasis on prevention and treatment, through mental health centers, to the detriment of the strategy to punish consumers) are just like us. That is, seeing what legislation is in force, we are often tied to hands and feet. I know, it is much easier to make yourself not see, to make yourself not such cases, but, forget, we come to consumption at younger ages, growing. And we are talking about those as they say, who terrorized me and even those from the anti-drug told me: we have nothing to do, they are not on the list of prohibited substances and then, until they introduce them on the list of substances, they are consumed. Personally, and my colleagues and service teachers, I see children who have a changed, abnormal behavior daily, to say so, at hours, during extracurricular activities, but unfortunately we will draw their attention, try to counsel that child, talk to the parents where we have a lot. (…) We do not have levers, I, as a school director, do not have many levers. So many cumbersome, complex, reporting, registered, … and we lose the essence were created. draws attention to the teacher.

“It was a Şchioapă agency, with a few specialists”

Anti -drug expert Cătălin Țone says that things, even after the official establishment of the National Agency for Policies and Coordination in the field of drugs and addictions (ANPCDDA), subordinated to the General Secretariat of the Government, will be complicated.

What the town halls and schools can do, explains the expert, is to emphasize the prevention with professionals who do not limit themselves to dividing leaflets, but to present to local authorities, parents and teachers relevant information about symptomatology, about how those who sell, about how they should relate to children, etc. responsible to investigate further.

Currently, at the level of the Ministry of Education, the anti -drug expert said, at a procedure for the cases where a certain substance is discovered in the school.

“We are now working on a procedure, but it is not so complicated, and how to do if it identifies the actual substance. They do not control, because they are not allowed, but if they teach a student, or if they find them throwing them, which is the way they are done. This is in the West for 30-40 years. It has not been done so far with us, because he had no one to do. It was a slab agency, you know it quite well, which was abolished, with a few specialists. This should have done the National Agency in the structure of the Ministry of Interior. The government agency was set up for two days. At the territory level, the evaluation centers, CPECA, were taken over by the mental health centers, so they are called, which will make prevention … So we are in a transition period ”said Cătălin Țone.

Even after the transition from Ana to ANPCDDA there will be problems to solve. They are not specialists, it draws the attention, and this is a real problem. “Romania is extremely poor. I now go to the conference with 500 students. Last year I had 168 activities, with over 60,000 beneficiaries. So there are no people to go to do these training. And it will take another 3, 4, 5, 7 years until some will be prepared so that they can go in front of adults or children to speak for good, healthy and useful for this situation ”, said Țone.

Other and other dysfunctions remain regulated. It is discussed during this time in the Parliament, the anti-drug expert, the defining of non-voluntary hospitalization, said in order to be able to intervene in the case of dependent young people who need medical services in hospitalization. There are also eight treatment centers on paper, but so far on paper.

“Online the consumers are coming online who say that it is not bad to draw a joint”

What could work? There are three perspectives, explains the anti-drug expert. The strategy will need to focus on prevention, control and treatment. “This is how a phenomenon is combated that requires specialists from vast fields: psychiatrist, psychologist, lawyer, social worker, etc. Each one has to do their duty on his segment ”, says Țone.

Equally important is that young people are talking on their language. “It was wrong. The agency went: the agency: ; . The children laughed all the time. And nothing was done. I do otherwise. I go to these activities, I have videos with them, I ask what drugs are. I give the microphone to answer, to say, I play. (…) I have a QR code at the end. If they want to tell me something, ask me something, tell me. This is the style. That is up to children. But he must go and said. Because they come in the second plane, online, drugs of drugs and consumers’ gentlemen who say it is not bad to draw a joint. It is not bad to take a pill, to see how it is. It is not bad … “, explains Țone how his meetings with young people are going.

The discussion with the parents must be their meaning. They are presented with drugs with drugs, in order to identify them, they are told how to check the children, how to check their phone, which is the language used by traffickers, how to discuss drugs. That we are talking about forbidden substances or are all kinds of combinations that the authorities have not yet introduced on the list of forbidden matters, says Tone, because they all have destructive health.