A Teenage Against Drug Abuse (TADA) campaign by the Eastern Cape Education department to create an awareness and drug abuse prevention is in full swing provincial. Recently, Bhisho high school launched a branch of this club, through formulating a committee to handle all issues relating to this issue in the school.
This TADA committee comprises of learners from various grades but who are sharing a common goal of seeing a drug-free society. Despite the fact that complex issues relating to drugs are mostly handled by parents, Bisho High learners are doing it for themselves through a theme “Anything about us is from us”.
TADA’s provincial coordinator, Cecilia Osei-Agyakwa oversees that all schools in province become tobacco, alcohol and drug-free zones for healthy teaching and learning.
Additionally, the club members are to become ambassadors in the fight against drugs in schools, hence they receive a training that will help them be able to identify learners experimenting different drugs. These ambassadors provide the drug experimenters with information about the dangers of using and misusing drugs. Apart from the informative sessions, these drug experimenting learners are also referred to nearby institutions for help.
The training also enables them to go to other schools advocating to their peers about dangers of drugs to their studies.
TADA club members are also expected to write monthly and quarterly reports about their schools with the support from the Life Orientation educator. Local stations of the South African Police Service (SAPS) are also involved as they conduct “search and seizure” to identified culprits. Two learners from the club are also selected as Police Commanders.
The TADA campaign is also linked to the national School Safety programme which oversees drug testing and awareness.
