Corpun file 8439 at www.corpun.com

Borneo Bulletin, Bandar Seri Begawan, 24 January 2002

Forum on drug abuse held in school

By June Ong

Students looking at anti-smoking brochures and literature.

A demonstration of how caning is carried out.

Secondary Three students from the Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College attended a forum on drug abuse with ample time allocated for a question and answer session.

The forum was held at the multi-purpose hall of the school yesterday morning.

The forum had been organised by the counselling and guidance department of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with various government units, namely, the Narcotics Control Bureau, Royal Brunei Police Force, Ministry of Health, Drug Rehabilitation Centre and the Prison Department.

The aim of the forum was to educate students with regards to the effects and consequences of misusing drugs. Statistics have clearly shown that teenagers are not exempted from misusing drugs.

The highlight of the event came was when the students were given a demonstration of how a caning as a punishment is conducted.

The demonstration was conducted using a dummy. Pictures of 'bleeding bottoms' were also shown to the audience.

During the break, a mini-exhibition with billboards, brochures and pamphlets was held to teach the students to stay away from drugs as well as bad activities such as smoking.