Eldos school aims to be a tobacco-free zone
This comes after eleven Grade 7 learners were caught smoking on the school premises.
Parkdale Primary School collaborated with Protect Our Next in order to create a tobacco-free school.
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Caretaker principal, Eden Daniels explained that in the first term of school, there were 11 Grade 7 learners who were caught smoking on the school premises.
Their parents were called and the next day a parents meeting was held to discuss punishment for the learners.
“We looked at various options, we then came up with the solution of detention classes but instead of calling it detention classes, we called it positive behaviour classes.
“The learners had to report to these positive behaviour classes every afternoon and instead of punishment, they were enrolled in an initiative called Protect Our Next,” explained Daniels.
Protect Our Next is an organisation which is affiliated with organisations such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA, South African Tobacco-Free Youth Forum, the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), the National Council Against Smoking and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
According to Daniels, the learners were then entered into a competition called Tobacco Free School Ambassadors where they had to make a poster which spoke of the dangers of smoking and how they can get a tobacco free school.
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“The poster was submitted to the organisation and on June 9 we received a trophy. We are the only school in Eldorado Park with this trophy.
“This is a huge achievement for Parkdale Primary, especially in light of the fact that these learners were actually starting a very bad habit but now they are ambassadors for a tobacco free school and they will set an example for the younger learners,” added Daniels.
The caretaker principal expressed how proud she is of the learners and shared that on Wednesday (June 15) the Protect Our Next organisation will do a documentary at the school.
Daniels mentioned that they will also be having parents as part of the documentary to share their stories too.
“What a way of turning bad behaviour into good behaviour, it was an amazing moment to see. I would like to thank Mr Mabasa for assisting the learners through this journey.”
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