A few school days before the start of classes, the Mendoza authorities warned parents and secondary school students about the consequences of causing “unwanted situations” due to the consumption of alcohol in the UPD celebrations (Last First Day). In this sense, they indicated that students who arrive drunk at schools will not be allowed to enter to them, to which would be added fines for parents for amounts that exceed one hundred thousand pesos.
For years, the authorities of the General Directorate of Schools (DGE) of Mendoza took measures to prevent accidents at the UPD. In this regard, in 2018 they issued a “Guide to procedures for emergent situations in Secondary Schools and their modalities”, of which its validity in 2020 was reaffirmed through the memorandum 18-SE-2020 issued by the Provincial Undersecretary of Education. This regulation offers the different schools instructions to take into account in the case of possible poisoning.
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The awareness campaign of the Mendoza government focuses on the responsibility of parents when sending their children to school. Along these lines, they asked that students’ alcohol consumption be controlled during the festivities prior to February 27, the day the school year begins.
In this regard, Emilio Moreno, the head of the secondary level at the provincial level, recorded a dialogue with telam that “regularly, on the Last First Day, the boys cannot enter if they come drunk”. In addition, she explained that “the director must notify parents and police if they arrive in that state”, for which he asked adults to get involved and “accompany their children”.
However, he clarified that he is not against the festivities, but that the problem is the consumption of alcohol. “From the institutions, through the student center and the guidance service, various activities are organized so that students have a nice day, always taking care that there is no alcohol“, he stated.
According to the head of the secondary level, the successful measure in previous years. “Last year it gave very good results, because we probably didn’t have problems in the schools, since in most of them there was a high percentage of attendance and in good conditions. Because that’s what you want: to have a nice day for the students, and that are contained in the schools”, he explained in this regard.
Likewise, the authorities remarked on the fact that most of the students are still minors, for which their parents or legal guardians could be penalized if they consume alcohol. In this regard, Néstor Majul, Undersecretary of Security of Mendoza explained a Chain 3 that parents can be prosecuted by article 86 of the Code of Violations for “failure to care” and in consequence They will be fined for amounts ranging from 108 thousand and 216 thousand pesos.
“Why do they do that to schools?”: The Director General of Schools spoke about the responsibility of parents
In line with Moreno’s position, José Thomas, Provincial Director General of Schools, maintained that it is necessary to “put the issue on the table”. While he said it’s “very cool” for kids to party, he talked about the negative consequences of alcohol being involved in the celebrations and how dangerous it is for parents to allow such behavior.
“When that organization (UPD) is transformed to see how it is done to drink alcohol the night before the start of classes, in large quantities, with fathers, mothers, responsible adults, who make it possible from the business side or the parents who provide a place and they put the alcohol, we are missing a basic rule which is that minors cannot drink alcohol”, highlights one Radio Nihuil.
In it, he made parents responsible for caring for adolescents in order to avoid excessive alcohol consumption, citing a sense that young people “need to transgress” but that “responsible adults have to mark that transgression.” “If nobody wants to set limits, the victim is the adolescent who grows without limits“, he added.
“Why do they do that to schools? The directors and teachers of the schools have been preparing for that day for a month; to start in a good mood, count the projects they have prepared, and they have to think about how to contain 30 or 60 kids who are going to arrive without sleep, in the best of cases, and others who are going to arrive drunk,” he complained.
MB/MCP
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