After the recent drug bust that rattled the city last month, the Hyderabad Sahodaya Schools Complex (HSSC) held a panel discussion on ‘Substance abuse — causes, concerns and corrections’ on Friday.
Sanjana Kapoor with one of the school principals
Akun Sabharwal, who is heading the Special Investigation Team that is looking into the drug racket, was the Chief Guest at the event and started his address by recalling an incident. “The other day when I was trying to educate my son about ‘substance abuse’, he quickly retorted, ‘Papa, I know you are talking about drugs’. So that just goes to show the awareness and buzz around the ongoing drugs case,” he said.
Akun Sabharwal
The panel also had Usha Reddy, Principal of Meridian School and Dr Vyakarnam Nageshwar, pulmonologist, who further discussed the changes and implications in drug-affected children.
To a question about dealing with students (drug victim) who are denied admission into schools, Akun replied, “This is why we didn’t reveal names of schools and children (although the media did) on any public forum. We don’t want anyone calling themself a drug-free school. Parents and teachers should empathise with kids.”
When asked why Tollywood celebs were named then, he said, “They were called under Section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psycho-tropic Substances Act, 1985. We didn’t revealed any names, and it was only when they were called that it became public.”
Dr Vyakarnam Nageshwar enlightened the conclave with his talk on how parents can identify and treat children who are into drugs, how the body reacts and the behavioural changes. Sanjana Kapoor, the daughter of Shashi Kapoor was also present and explained the importance of creativity and how it can help children to learn constantly. The conclave also had a session on creativity in education, digital learning, managing lessons of life, patriotism through education, etc. Anjali Razdan, Vice-Chairman of HSSC and Principal of P. Obul Reddy Public School was also present.
