Bleaching among pupils worrying

Yesterday we carried a story in which the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, was bemoaning the rising incidence of bleaching among young people in senior and junior high schools, as well as primary school, some as young as nine years.

The minister described the practice as a dangerous canker that needs to be addressed urgently.

More seriously, however, this is a different type of bleaching from the common type of people applying mixtures on their skins to become fairer. This latest practice is popularly referred to as ‘Conshore’ and those engaged in it apply a mixture of different items and chemicals, with both boys and girls indulging in the act.

It is prevalent in the Gomoa Central District and the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA) municipality but gradually spreading to other parts of the region, particularly the coastal line.

The young people apply the mixture to their lips in a bid to get their lips to be pinkish, and some of those engaged in the practice have explained that their action is to make them look more handsome, in the case of the boys, and beautiful, in the case of the girls, all in a bid to boost their self-confidence and make them attractive.

Obviously, they are not aware of the far-reaching dangers their voluntary acts will pose to their health in future.

Bleaching creams are not edible, and so there could be double danger in combining the cream with alcohol and applying the mixture on the lips, an action that introduces the concoction to the body through the mouth.

Applying chemicals to the skin, research has shown, causes, among other things, numbness, fatigue, sensitivity to light and neurologic symptoms such as memory loss and tremor and, ultimately, skin cancer.

So one can imagine the time bomb the children engaged in ‘conshore’ are sitting on by applying the concoction to their lips.

Like teenage pregnancy, the outcome of the actions may only come to light when it starts manifesting physically, and that should have been when the educational campaign was stepped up.

Concerned about the rising trend, some chiefs and opinion leaders have called on school authorities to deal with the issue before it gets out of hand, as information has it that the children indulge in the practice in school.

For instance, the Chief of Gomoa Lome in the Gomoa Central District has had to summon the District Director of Education to discuss and find a solution to the growing trend of bleaching among students.

The Chief, Nana Nyarko, worried about the situation, has charged the director to do something about the trend before it gets out of hand and become another challenge to threaten both the present and the future health of those indulging in it.

Rather than make it the responsibility of schools to help curb this menace, the Daily Graphic believes that, like all other issues that affect children, it is as much the responsibility of parents and the communities, as well as the schools, to draw the children’s attention to the harm they are willingly causing to themselves.

Obviously, the children are acting out of ignorance, so it behoves all stakeholders to make a concerted effort to ensure that this phenomenon is nipped in the bud before it becomes a challenge to deal with.

Should the children suffer any consequences, it will not affect only their health and thus make them unproductive in the future; it will also become a burden on their families and communities and also stretch health facilities