Anuradha addresses the students on addiction at Shishu Niketan in Patna on Friday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, July 15: A two-way interaction is necessary to tackle addiction to liquor, tobacco or narcotic substances among children so that they don’t fall prey to these early in life.

With this objective in mind, members of the women’s organisation, Inner Wheel Club of Patna, organised a programme today to make students of Shishu Niketan aware of addiction to substances like gutkha, ganja (marijuana) or alcohol.

Organised on the school premises, Inner Wheel brought psychologist Anuradha from Hitaishi Happiness Home, a de-addiction and rehabilitation centre, to interact with the students at the hourlong programme. Anuradha interacted with around 30 students of classes V to VII to make them aware about the effects of addiction and how it can devastate not only the life of an addict but also the family.

Inviting comments from the students, the organisers asked them if they were aware of any addict in and around their neighbourhood.

Rashmi Agrawal, the president of Inner Wheel Club of Patna, encouraged the students to dissuade people around them to stay away from drugs or addictive substances.

Several students present at the programme revealed that several of their friends were addicted to gutkha, ganja, alcohol, bhang and other drugs.

Anuradha said she found the children eager to know about the effects of addiction, as she was initially apprehensive about interacting with the youngsters on such a sensitive issue.

“I was not sure how to talk to the students but once I started I could understand that they knew a lot about the issue. Some of them even accepted that they were taking drugs but once they knew its effects, they promised to kick the habit soon,” said Anuradha.

The psychologist also acquainted the children about a new kind of addiction — smelling and drinking whitener — which affects the brain’s development.

Mohammad Shabbir, a student present at the programme, said: “I knew that taking drugs is injurious to health but I was not aware of the symptoms like irritation, increasing of heart beat, palpitation and others. I will surely try my best to spread awareness in my locality, specially among my friends.”