Wedge Gardens’ treatment centre teamed up with Illiondale-based halfway house New Hope to teach teens from Vryburger High School in Germiston about addiction.
The day formed part of an awareness initiative which focused on addiction and was organised by New Day Church in Edenvale.
Wedge Gardens social worker Karen Griessel said the main idea was to educate the children of the school about the realities and dangers of drugs and alcohol.
“Unfortunately, the use and abuse of substances have become more prevalent in our society,” said Griessel.
She added that the children listened with intense curiosity to media reports, testimonies from addicts and psycho-education presentations.
“I gave them information regarding the process of addiction and its development stages, moving from experimentation to the reality faced by many high school teens of chronic dependence and full-blown addiction, which leads to jails, institutions or death.
“As a passionate person in a helping profession, I have seen the worst side of this disease and cannot overestimate how important it is to reach out to younger minds in the hope that they begin to understand the devastation and decide not to open the door to substance abuse and addiction.”
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Edited by Stacey Woensdregt
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