“Do you agree that the mayor’s office of Bucharest should finance and implement an education program for health and prevention of drug use in all schools in Bucharest?” It is the third question that the residents of the Capital will have to answer in the November 24 referendum. However, we are talking about an issue that has been discussed over time, but without identifying any concrete solutions that would really help to eradicate the phenomenon.
Drugs are used in all high schools in Romania, say the authorities. Photo source: archive
Therefore, we ask ourselves, if the answer of the people of Bucharest will be “Yes, we agree”, what will happen next? How should this project be conceived and implemented? Because the responsibility has so far been passed between the family, the school and the authorities. None of these three actors wanted to undertake such a mission. Will it be different from now on?
According to Prof. Andreia Bodea, director of the ILCaragiale National College in Bucharest, drug use among students is a direct consequence of the lack of perspective among young people, the lack of a certain future. “They no longer see the meaning of school, of education, the meaning of morality, they no longer see the meaning of things that our generation grew up with”, considers the teacher. Basically, these children take refuge from a reality in which they no longer find themselves, through which they fumble and fumble. “They can no longer project a future”said the director.
“A populist and stupid question”
Sorin Andreica, the president of the Europol union, believes that, as it is formulated, this question is as populist as it is redundant. “I wonder who would oppose a plan to educate students about the effects of drug use. Who would answer “No”? No one. And then, what is the role of this citizen consultation? (..) Then, if we keep inviting people to vote, let’s come up with something concrete like “do you agree that x% of the city hall’s budget should go to this area?”. Because, otherwise, after this measure is voted, its implementation will be blocked in missing budgets”, considers the policeman. “And what did I do? Nothing! We circled around the queue. (..) I would have liked to be able to decide, for example, the activities that could be carried out in schools or perhaps the budget that would be allocated. But, formulated in this way, the question is vague, it does not come with any concrete proposal, everyone will answer YES and.. we’ll see what we do next..“, he adds.
Let the specialists think the project
However, beyond this aspect, the question that will be answered by the people of Bucharest brings back to the fore a phenomenon that we have always fought against, but it’s as if we pedaled on empty. The campaigns to prevent drug use, to raise awareness of the dangers, the messages sent by the authorities, NGOs, foundations, associations, education specialists, counselors, psychologists, teachers…didn’t have the expected impact. Because, as Cosmin Andreica states, there is drug use in every high school in Romania. “We cannot rely on local elected officials to decide what types of programs should be addressed, simply because they are not specialists in the field. They have neither the intellectual capacity nor the imagination to think up effective programs. Because if he had, he probably would have done it by now.” believes the head of Europol.
How should it be done? Cosmin Andreica is of the opinion that, first of all, a project competition should be organized. “Let’s leave this problem to those who really know how: NGOs, associations, foundations. Then, the students can be involved here, to identify consumers and to report them, the teachers but also the parents. Measures to raise awareness and prevent the phenomenon can take many forms.”
And Prof. Andreia Bodea, director of the ILCaragiale National College, is of the same opinion: “For this project to have an effect, for it to have an impact, it must be elaborated, thought out and put into practice by specialists who deal with this. Whether we are talking about psychiatrists, whether we are talking about psychologists, sociologists, experts in this field, it is clear that these people must think and implement such a program”.
Cosmin Andreica, president of the Europol union. Photo source: Inquam
A message adapted to today’s generation. “Words no longer have any effect”
However, the message sent to young people should be different from those launched so far, even totally reconfigured, the policeman believes: “We no longer need to have the same approach where two people from the Anti-Drug Agency and an NGO come before young people. Just talking about drug use no longer has any effect. This probably worked in the 2000s. Now, however, we are dealing with a different generation, and the message must be thought, designed and delivered in the language and understanding of these children today.”
It has been scientifically established that the attention paid by young people to a classroom lesson, a discussion or a person standing in front of them and speaking to them has diminished considerably in recent years. And that’s because the technological process and digitization have led to a need to synchronize the message with the image: “This is the reason why, in the last two or three years, the campaigns in which former drug users were invited to talks have caught on very well. These people narrated their own life experience. And this caught on very well with the children. Many of them identified with those stories. Another effective campaign was the one in which ex-drug dealers, ex-prisoners, convicted of trafficking were invited to the talks. These people told the way in which they pimped the young people, how they paid them, how they first offered them drugs for free to make them addicted, and then to sell them these narcotics”.
Also, it would not hurt to show the students some medical situations of drug users. “The visual impact, direct contact with reality could have an effect on young people. Empty talk and powerpoint presentations have no effect. Than to be boring, maybe”, Cosmin Andreica also specified.
How the school could be involved in the eradication of drug use
The policeman believes that the phenomenon of drug use in schools can be combated effectively if the whole society puts its shoulder, if there is a collaboration between the authorities, teachers and parents. First of all, schools can establish rules of internal order, their own regulations for organization and operation; “For example, I know schools where the security guard can ask the students to prove that they do not have weapons, dangerous objects, drugs. They are asked to empty their pockets. This is not a search. This is just a check. And those who do not obey do not enter the school”.
However, where there are internal regulations, they are often not respected, and when certain facts are discovered, there are no corresponding sanctions. The reason? Many principals tend to cover up drug use among students in order not to tarnish the image of that high school. “There is a kind of code of silence, a real Omerta among highly rated high schools. Here, the use of drugs is a taboo, it is not discussed exactly so as not to spoil the reputation of the high school”, says the policeman.
ILCaragiale high school in Bucharest was also involved, in the past, in a scandal related to drug use among students. “But I didn’t hide such a problem under the rug,” director Andreia Bodea testified. “As much as this hurt me, I didn’t deny it. I knew that this scandal would have an impact on the image of the school, a school that I love very much, but I could not deny the reality. Which I’ve noticed many parents do instead. So the first step was this: to admit that we have a problem. Then, I tried to talk to those students. And I found that they, in fact, have no support even from home, from the family. I also spoke with the parents of these children. What did I get in return? Aggressive reactions, insults, threats, refusal to accept reality. Only two parents were willing to have a dialogue, they asked for support, help, they collaborated with us, they asked for guidance”, continued the teacher.
Teachers fear and run from responsibility. “They don’t want to complicate their existence”
As the parents don’t take responsibility, the teachers won’t either, says the police officer Cosmin Andreica. “Many times, they avoid going through certain areas of the school in order not to notice certain things and then not to be forced to report them and complicate their existence. Teachers blame the police. Let the police come. Let the police drug test him. Why should I get involved? Maybe it hits me after I leave school. They are very common approaches”.
The head of Europol recommends that teachers try to identify students who may be drug users: “They should know what the signs of drug use are and report such cases of suspicion, but without stigmatizing the student. Without resorting to gestures like being thrown out of class and sent to the doctor’s office because he has the face of a drug addict. This is about a certain approach”.
Cosmin Andreica told us a case that perhaps best exemplifies the notion of teacher responsibility: “A math teacher suspected a student of drug use and notified the child’s principal. The latter contacted the parents, but did worse. Why? Because he did not fully own this problem. He told the people that the math teacher had reported the situation. What came after? The parents went to the school, angrily entered the office and assaulted the teacher. How can he afford to say about the child that he is a junkie? Do you know what happened shortly after this incident? The child fell into a coma due to drug use.”
Prof. Andreia Bodea, director of the “ILCaragiale” National College from Bucharest
“We send the school to war without any weapons”
Principal Andreia Bodea claims that concrete measures have been taken against drug use in ILCaragiale high school: “We organized a lot of meetings between students, teachers and specialists: psychologists, doctors, sociologists, experts in this field. They kept coming over time, they talked to the children. Unfortunately, I cannot count the impact of these meetings, I could not tell you how much they mattered. I just know that while many students were very impressed and gave positive feedback, others were left completely cold by these meetings and discussions.”
At the IL Caragiale College, the duty teacher patrols the corridors, checks the bathrooms, the yard of the institution. “There is a close monitoring of the students and the activities that take place in the school premises. We are as vigilant as possible.” But, the teacher believes, the eradication of drug use will not be possible if it is placed on the shoulders of the schools as well: “I expect a small part of this responsibility to return to me, but with subject and predicate, with rights and with very clear limits.”
And this is how the problem reaches from the responsibility of the school and the teachers to the family. “The role of the teacher and the importance of what the teacher says have disappeared. There is a smoldering conflict between the school and the parents. The latter tend to challenge, if not the entire educational process, at least a large part”, believes the head of Europol.
