EXPEL ANY PUPIL USING 'EVIL' DRUGS, SAYS HEAD

A leading headmaster is calling for a fresh crackdown on the "massive
evil" of illegal drugs, with instant expulsion for any pupil caught
taking them.

Anthony Seldon, head of UKP24,441-a-year Wellington College in
Berkshire warns today that social attitudes to recreational narcotics
have become far too lax.

He will tell the annual Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference -
an organisation representing the country's leading independent
schools - that part of the solution to the nation's growing drugs
problem is to teach children how to be happy without them and will
warn the conference in Bournemouth that rising rates of mental
illness are being fuelled by the "cataclysmic" use of illegal and
prescription drugs.

These include skunk, which is more powerful than other strains of
cannabis and has been identified as a likely trigger of schizophrenia
and psychosis in young people. "They are such a massive evil, even
cannabis is so deeply evil and sinister."

Dr Seldon said what distinguished independent schools like his is the
quality of pastoral care they offer. But they face the same problems
as state schools - particularly when it comes to drugs, on which
Wellington operates a "no second chance policy" he said.

Wellington College, a co-educational school which takes boarders and
day pupils between 13 and 18, has hired a private security firm to
conduct drugs sweeps with sniffer dogs once a term.

And he said the reason he has not expelled any pupils for drug-taking
since becoming headmaster last year is because they knew they would
be instantly ordered to leave if caught taking drugs.

"If you have a very, very clear, sharp policy, everyone knows where
they stand. You have a hard, cruel policy to be kind."

Dr Seldon also lambasted the media for not portraying drug use
negatively enough. "The media and the Government need to be far
tougher. No illegal or recreational drugs are acceptable in any form."

He added that he knew of one man who had "lost his mind for six
months" after smoking only one joint.

Dr Seldon has pioneered a compulsory course in well-being at
Wellington and after the first year he said A-level and GCSE results
at the school improved, although he was cautious about attributing
the increase in top grades to the happiness course alone.

"It's very hard to pinpoint. Our results have gone up. Is that
because we are doing this? I don't know. What there is clear evidence
of is... if you can create an emotionally intelligent organisation,
this has real benefits in a school."

Dr Seldon plans to extend the well-being course at Wellington to
cover all pupils after initially focusing on those taking GCSEs.

Unlike the Government's Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
programme, which Schools Secretary Ed Balls said would be rolled out
to secondary as well as primary schools, Wellington's scheme covers
teachers as well as pupils, Dr Seldon said.