Tamil Nadu teachers complain to government about students being addicted to tobacco

After several students found consuming tobacco and gutka in the class, teachers have urged the Education department to take concrete measures towards it
Tamil Nadu teachers complain to government about students being addicted to tobacco

COIMBATORE: A teacher at a government-aided school in Saibaba colony, three weeks ago, walked into the Class-XI, only to find the place reeking of alcohol. One of the students had shown up to school quite drunk.

The livid teacher sent him out of the class and searched his bag and found packets of chewing tobacco. A small inquiry with of the class made it clear that several other students too had a habit of chewing tobacco.

At a government school on Tiruchy Road, a Class-XII student was found to have been supplying marijuana to other students.

He was caught after he picked up a fight with his friends in the class while under the influence.

In both cases, the students were suspended for a brief period of time and allowed to return to school with a warning.

With such incidents being reported frequently, teachers have petitioned Chief Educational Officer, R Murugan, for concrete measures to address the problem.

Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers Association district president, T Arulanadham, says that the students seem to have little regard for discipline, with many of them using tobacco during class.

Even students as young as 12-years-old have been found using tobacco, says a District Tobacco Control Cell official.

If they were to use it frequently, it is bound to affect their physical and mental health, the official warns, adding that their department has now taken to running awareness programmes in schools too.

VR Pattabiraman, a pulmonologist, says that children who begin using tobacco at a very young age will continue to do so well into old age; the earlier they start, the more difficult it will be for them to give it up.

Despite ban, shops found selling tobacco

Coimbatore: The many specific rules notwithstanding, the sale of tobacco products in close proximity to schools & colleges & to underage children continues to go unchecked across the State.

With the police unable to keep a watch on all petty shops, students find that they can easily buy tobacco and gutka.

The Cigarettes And Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, lay it out in simple terms -- no one can sell tobacco products to a person under 18 years of age or within 100 yards of any educational institution.

While the police have been able to curb illegal activities of wholesale sellers, they fail to monitor petty shops and have been accused to allow them to sell tobacco for a handsome bribe.

DCP (Law & Order) L Balaji Saravanan says the public can contact the toll-free no. 6384200100 to report on sale of tobacco to students.

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