Adolescents fall prey to addiction easier than adults and counselling at the right time is necessary.

Lions Club International has decided to organise a teachers’ training workshop between March 9 and March 12 to address the issue of drug addiction and discuss ways to avoid it.

The club has conducted Lions Quest: Skills for Adolescence (SFA) programme in many high schools of the city.

This time, the issue of teens getting addicted to e-cigarettes or vapes and drugs will be discussed to make teachers more aware and capable of handling such cases effectively.

“Since 2005, 22 teachers training programme have been conducted in Jamshedpur, the last being in September 2016. Recently, we have been approached by some schools to conduct the workshop for teachers who face difficulty in managing adolescent children. Since addiction is one of the major concerns at present times, teachers will be told about ways to deal with such victims. We hope this problem is minimised in coming times,” district governor of Lions Club International Rajnish Kumar said.

Last week, Kumar had raised the issue of students using e-cigarettes with the police.

Kumar, who came to know about the problem through a school principal, submitted some samples of e-cigarettes and aerosols (confiscated by the school from a student) to senior superintendent of police Anoop Birtharay, who in turn assured action.

However, Kumar feels that more than a legal action, students need to be made aware of the adverse effects of addiction.

Some of the points to be discussed in the two-day workshop are building self-discipline, responsibility and self-confidence; communicating effectively and co-operating with others; managing attitude and emotions; saying no to drugs and negative pressure; strengthening positive relationship with family and peers; learning and developing skills in solving problems and making healthy decisions.

The club has approached 40 private schools of the city and started receiving confirmation as well.

Two batches of 30 teachers each will undergo a two-day training next month. “In the past, we have trained many teachers, but most of them have superannuated. Therefore, we want to create a fresh set of teachers who are equipped to handle such complicated problems,” Kumar added.