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Gibson Mhaka
DISTURBINGLY!
Amidst the country’s fight against the alarming rise of drug abuse among youths, a disturbing revelation has emerged amid reports that students are allegedly drying and scraping bath soaps, mixing the scrapings and rolling them in paper to smoke in order to get high.
The health consequences of smoking this new form of concoction are reported to be even more severe than those caused by crystal meth (dombo/mutoriro). In addition to the soap concoction, students are reportedly using other dangerous methods to obtain alcohol.
Some mix cereal with undiluted orange crush and ferment it for days, while others create a potent mixture with cereal, brown sugar, water and yeast, all fermented under the sun and consumed by students despite school authorities’ presence.
Unconfirmed statements on social media this week said a school urged parents to be aware that the school has taken a strict stance on confiscating some identified soaps, cereal, and orange crush from students.
“We have just learnt with shock that some students (not yet caught in our school, of course) are mixing cereal with undiluted orange crush, then fermenting for a few days to form a very strong alcoholic substance. Others dry (bathing) soap, then scrap and mix, roll the scraps in paper to smoke.
The result of smoking this is worse than that of crystal meth/ dombo/ mutoriro. As such, the school has immediately taken a stance to confiscate them from the children. Parents who can pass by can collect theirs and bring cream soda, raspberry, peach, blackberry or other such drinks.
“Those who can send them may do so. We feel it is better to be safe than to be sorry. The alcohol, drugs and substance abuse amongst young people has reached alarming levels. Let’s pray for this generation. Your cooperation will always be banked upon. Stay blessed,” read the notice sent to parents and guardians.
Director for communications and advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Taungana Ndoro described the trend of pupils abusing everyday household items like soap and cereal to get intoxicated as “extremely dangerous and worrying.”
“The health consequences could be severe, as these substances are not intended for human consumption and can contain harmful chemicals or contaminants. It is encouraging to hear that some schools have taken the step of banning cereal possession in response to the fermentation attempts. This shows they are aware of the problem and trying to intervene,” said Ndoro.
He said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education was implementing a number of key strategies to address the issue of pupils abusing household items to get intoxicated.
“We are implementing an age-appropriate drug and alcohol Heritage-Based curricula to teach pupils about the dangers and consequences of substance abuse. We are providing training for teachers and school staff to recognize the signs of substance abuse and how to intervene. We are also establishing pupil support services like counselling, mentoring, and peer-to-peer programs to help identify and assist students at-risk. We are also strengthening our school policies by updating school codes of conduct to explicitly prohibit the possession, use, and distribution of any household items being abused for intoxication,” said Ndoro.
The scourge of drug and substance abuse has affected schools across the country with recent reports that a 96-bed capacity ward at Ingustheni Central Hospital in Bulawayo is at any time filled above capacity with mostly youths exhibiting psychotic or violent behaviour.
That behaviour is mainly attributed to drug abuse, experts have said. The revelation comes at a time when studies have shown that more than 60 percent of admissions into the country’s mental health institutions are from substance abuse with 80 percent of those admissions in the 16 and 40 age group.
The notice also advised parents that if they choose to provide their children with Android portable devices, they should follow the steps below to ensure safety.
“Register a Gmail account for them with the correct age and with your email as the parent, install Google Family Link on your own phone, add their registered e-mail to your Google Family Link, Factory Reset their android device if they already have one then login the device with their own gmail account that is linked to your Google Family Link and If it is new device, make sure it is their gmail you use to activate the device.
“Immediately you carry out steps above, your phone will get a notification to allow them activate the device, this is the beginning of you taking control from anywhere, all adult content of any form will never load in their phone, they cannot install anything without your approval remotely from the Family Link and you can lock their device from anywhere.
Further read the steps: “You can set a start and stop time for their device usage, the phone will lock when it gets to that time even if you forget, YouTube will not allow them see adult content too, there is also YKids, which is YouTube for Kids, I recommend you remove the normal YouTube and give them YKids. From your Google Family Link, you can see how long they stayed on each app or page to warn them where necessary and you will see as much as major details of the app”.
Parents were further advised that when communicating with their peers on phones, children use the following slang terms:
IWSN- I want sex now; GNOC- Get naked on camera; NIFOC- Naked in front of computer; PIR- Parent in room; CU46 – See you for sex; 53X- Sex; 9- Parents watching; 99 -Parent gone; 1174- Party meeting place; THOT- That hoe over there; CID- Acid (the drug); Broken- Hungover from alcohol; 420- Marijuana; POS- Parent over shoulder; SUGARPIC- Suggestive or erotic photo;
KOTL- Kiss on the lips; LsMIRL- Let’s meet in real life; PRON- Porn; TDTM- Talk dirty to me; 8 -Oral sex; CD9 -Parents around/Code 9; IPN- I’m posting naked; LH6- Let’s have sex; WTTP- Want to trade pictures; DOC- Drug of choice; TWD- Texting while driving; GYPO- Get your pants off; KPC- Keeping parents clueless.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu