POLL | Are adults prematurely exposing children to harmful substances?

News of an eight-year-old boy caught with a packet of dagga at a primary school in Phoenix, Durban, left many people shocked and has sparked a debate about parenting skills and society's influence on minors. 

TimesLIVE reported that when the minor was questioned about the dagga he told security officials it was given to him by his uncle. 

“When reaction officers interviewed the eight-year-old, he explained that he was given the packet of cannabis by his uncle. The dagga was [allegedly] shared with other grade 3 pupils,” Reaction Unit SA director Prem Balram said. 

Last week, about 87 pupils from Pulamadibogo Primary School, in grades R to 7, fell ill after eating muffins laced with dagga allegedly sold by a street vendor outside the school in Soshanguve. They were treated for nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting.

South Africa made international headlines last year when 21 children aged between 13 and 17 died in a tavern in Scenery Park in East London during a “pens down” party.

These and other incidents involving minors spark debate on possible causes, and whether parents or society are to blame for exposing children to harmful substances.