‘Teachers know…’: In Chennai govt schools, drugs move through classrooms, playgrounds – unchecked, unreported

CHENNAI: In small government schools across Chennai, Tamil Nadu, drugs are being passed in classrooms, playgrounds and the lanes outside. Children see it, teachers suspect it, and almost no one says it aloud.

Bharathi knows exactly how much gold she owns, because it is not much.

“It is not that we have a lot of gold or money at home,” she says. “So I know what is there.” When pieces began to disappear, she did not have to look far. Her son Nadish (name changed), a Class 9 student, had been selling them without her knowledge.

The picture came together only when his friend Mari turned up at her door and asked why Nadish had stopped coming to school. “That is when I put everything together,” she says. The drug was cannabis, known on the street as “Pachai Ellai”. She does not know how he got into it. She knows only that it started with the friends he made.

Teachers in government schools in Chennai say they are seeing a steady number of students caught with drugs or showing signs of use, though no figures on how many children are affected were available.

Valarmathi, a government school teacher in Vyasarpadi, said 10 to 15 students at her school are noticed every year for erratic behaviour. She’s certain the problem has grown but the students have become smarter about concealing it. Some were caught with drugs, she said, on the premises or in playgrounds and other spots outside the campus. She was speaking only of the school she knows in her locality.

Irene, who teaches at a government school in Pattalam and works with an NGO nearby, said about five students at her school were caught and warned at least three times in four months. Irene also pointed out that it was difficult to keep them in control and notice how many more were involved, saying it is like an invisible chain of networks with people outside their schools. She says it is more of other college students and drop outs too.

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The state government launched a campaign on the issue in August. On August 11, chief minister C. Joseph Vijay led a state-level pledge for a “Drug-Free Tamil Nadu” and launched a “Drug and Tobacco-Free Campus” campaign for schools and colleges. Valarmathi said, “I hope the change in government…actually brings some change as the previous drives and programmes and even training classes were of no use, more like a free period for these kids.”

Several teachers and NGO workers contacted for this story were hesitant to share information.

Drugs at the school gate

Many reality checks from parts of North Chennai including places like Saidapet and Perungudi, describe a similar pattern. The schools are mostly small and government-run.

Zoya Bano, a teacher in Pattalam, noticed children handling discarded injections left in the school playground. Outsiders, she says, use the grounds after hours and leave their materials behind. She tried to file a complaint.

She also saw children pretending to be high, acting it out as play. In her view, cinema and the neighbourhoods around them are teaching children to see drug use as normal, long before anyone has told them what it does.

In another household, a flower-seller and a masala puri vendor found that their two sons, in Classes 9 and 11, suddenly had money they could not explain. The boys, they learnt, had been selling drugs on school premises. After a loud, threatening confrontation, the parents believe the boys have stopped.

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What students see and how teachers look at this issue

Students say the school day hides more than adults realise. Devanai, a Class 7 student in Vyasarpadi, says she is scared of her seniors, especially on annual days and other big school occasions. Those are the days, she says, when drugs move around the campus.

A Class 11 student near Vyasarpadi says teachers cannot know what students carry or where: in pockets, bags, hats, pencil boxes, shoes. "We notice, but we don't say anything out of fear," she says. Some students, she adds, pass money to college students as well.

Teachers are meant to be the first line of detection, but they have little to work with. Kayal Joseph, a government school teacher who is about to move to a school in Senji, says the training is informal. "We are told how to tell a child who is under the influence from one with ADHD or extreme impulses, and even professionals find that hard," she says.

Joseph describes a pattern. "Children grow up seeing it in films, in their localities, with outsiders around the school, so they don't know the risks," she says. "And there is no safe way for us to report it. Neither we nor the children feel we can raise an alarm."

M Anbu, a teacher who did not want to disclose his school or locality, says the supply of drugs inside schools is organised. "I know for a fact that these are strong running chains inside schools," he says. "If not this guy, then another."

He has noticed a pattern. "More male students are inclined towards these activities," he says. "It is not that girls do not help, but they basically don't open up again, for their safety. I understand that."

Teachers, he says, usually know who is responsible. "Teachers know exactly who is responsible, and most times they tend to turn away."

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He draws a line between students who use and those who supply. "For children under the influence, we can surely help, in collaboration with NGOs and rehabs," he says. "But selling and giving, the supply, we cannot help with until strict action is taken at the school level or government level."

In his view, some schools manage better than others. "Some schools are okay. Those that lack proper management, like most government-run schools in places far from the centre, are in trouble." Those running the trade, he believes, now hide it better because they know things are changing like immediate exposure.

Schools do run awareness programmes, such as a class on the subject, he says, "but it has to be more. Fear must be instilled."

Rehabs and the search for help

Dhanalakshmi, who works near Otteri but lives near Perungudi, has already lost one son to gang violence, which she links to marijuana use. Terrified her younger son could follow, she put him in a rehabilitation centre for Rs 7,000 covering food, stay and doctors. He picked up the habit in school from a senior, she says, and his teacher noticed and confirmed the change.

Rehabs take in children under the influence and those with anger problems after use, but outcomes are mixed.

For some families, rehab did not work. Velu, whose 17 -year-old son is now in the juvenile justice system, says they sent him but saw no lasting change. He stayed there for four months but emerged angrier and more aggressive.

A child psychiatrist who specialises in narcotics and works at a government hospital in North Chennai as well as private clinics said the signs are simple for parents and teachers to spot.

“Notice the behaviour. Notice how the child handles anger, whether they answer abruptly. Look for hallucinations, shivering hands, frequent stomach aches and cramping, dehydrated lips and stains around the mouth,” he said.

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He said about 70% of the drug use he sees in Chennai involves Cool Lip, a form of chewing tobacco – school girls told Careers360 that its mint flavour also helps disguise the smell of alcohol – and that of those cases, about 20% to 25% involve hard drugs like MDMA. The rest use other narcotics, the use of which is visible, he said.

“We often ask them to get a dental exam and a urine test to know more,” he said. Most of the children he treats, he said, are driven by rage, by carelessness about most things, or by trauma on top of that.

Children must be educated about the side effects and the long-term ill effects of drug use, he concluded.