For a long time, parents have lived in the hope that boarding schools are better than day schools, when it comes to raising teenagers.
These parents held the view that in a boarding school someone would be watching their children, to make sure they developed a discipline that they hold them in high regard over time.
Well, research now shows that these parents are living with a false hope. And the children studying in day schools are not faring much better than their boarding counterparts. Something heartbreaking has happened in our schools that both the parents and teachers have missed.
The worst fears for today’s parents, who were themselves in school in the 1980s, included alcoholism. Well, today’s parents will soon need to start fearing what is happening in schools, as they are increasingly hit by a serious drug-taking crisis.
Many schools today have children taking drugs like marijuana (for the low end of the income scale) as well as shisha and cocaine (for the higher end). The damage that such drugs are doing to the youth is unbelievable.
Youths, who start out with a bright future, end up with ruined lives, waking up regularly in garbage skips, with no sense of direction for future. Parents, who pay tuition fees to ensure that teachers keep their children away from drugs, will be dismayed to realise that this vice is happening regardless.
Teachers, who are convinced that their students are some of the most disciplined, will be shocked that they are harbouring drug-taking youths. Much worse are the drug dealers, who take the drugs from one school to another, operating through complex syndicates that ensure their ‘clients’ are regularly served.
That all this is happening, under the veneer of normalcy, is shocking and calls for a severe review. However, it is not clear who will call the review since neither the parents, nor the teachers are willing to acknowledge the extent of the crisis. It seems everyone is only watching.
school@observer.ug