Juliana Francis
The Lagos State Government has suspended five female pupils of the Oreyo Senior Grammar School, Igbogbo, Ikorodu area of the state, for smoking.
The crime of the girls was discovered after a video, which filmed them smoking a drug known as Shisha, while still in their uniforms, went viral during the week.
Shisha is a practice of smoking tobacco through a bowl or a tube. The Lagos State Ministry of Education and Ministry of Youth and Social Development, said it had also sent the girls on rehabilitation.
The girls were said to be in Senior Secondary School (SS2). It was also gathered that the parents of the girls and the principal of their school would be summoned by the state government. It was further learnt that the smoking incident happened smoking incident happened in the home of a boy, alleged to be boyfriend to one of the girls.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Tokunbo Wahab, said: “Appropriate steps are being taken to address the issue with the aim of preventing future occurrence in the state. The appropriate ministry is already intervening. You see why the role of parents is so critical. We can’t leave everything to government and school. This is heart wrenching.”
According to News medical life science, smoking shisha is harmful. The site further stated: “Due to the fact that users are not always aware of the harms associated with smoking shisha there have been studies by the WHO suggesting initiatives aimed at raising awareness and subsequently decreasing the usage of shisha.”
First Published 2021