Punjab Education Department has reportedly banned the use of mobile phones in all public and private educational institutions across the province in an attempt to curb the growing trend of drugs among students.
“Under the prevailing dangers of menace of drugs in educational institutions (public and private sector) and to safeguard the young generation from this curse, it is mandatory to impose [a] complete ban on the use of mobile and other sources to use social media in the premises of educational institutions across the province,” read an Education Department notification doing rounds over the internet.
While it also called for a ban on the use of social media for children under the age of 16, people are questioning if the move even makes any sense.
Drug addiction in Pakistan has reached an alarming high within the past few decades, as according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC), the total number of addicts has reached 67 million.
More than 800,000 Pakistani aged between 15 and 64 use drugs on a daily basis and an estimated 44 tons of processed heroin is consumed annually in Pakistan. According to another report, 57% of school, college and university students in Lahore are using at least one drug.
