– Teacher warns parents are struggling to keep pace with emerging risky behaviours
BY SIBUSISEKILE NDLANGAMANDLA
MANZINI – Parents, teachers and health authorities are facing a worrying new challenge after revelations that some pupils are allegedly engaging in a dangerous practice involving the transfer of blood between individuals after drug use, potentially exposing themselves to HIV infection.
The disturbing behaviour, known as “Bluetooth” or “Bluetoothing”, was brought into the spotlight by St Michael’s High School teacher Raphael Masuku during a panel discussion at the Manzini Regional Dissemination of the HIV Prevention Indaba hosted by the National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA).
Masuku told participants that the practice was among emerging risky behaviours allegedly being adopted by some pupils in connection with drug and alcohol use.
He explained that the practice could involve a pupil who had taken drugs drawing blood from another person and injecting it into themselves.
What makes the behaviour particularly alarming, he warned, is the direct exchange of blood and the potential HIV transmission risk where one of the people involved is living with the virus.
The revelation paints a troubling picture of how rapidly risky behaviours among young people are changing, sometimes leaving parents and teachers unaware of what may be happening around them.
“Pupils have overtaken us,” Masuku told the gathering, highlighting the difficulty adults face in keeping up with new trends and behaviours among children.
For Masuku, the challenge goes beyond simply disciplining pupils. He said parents, teachers and communities needed to understand the constantly changing environment in which young people were growing up so that warning signs could be detected before harmful behaviour escalated.
The panel discussion, moderated by AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Thulani Mthethwa, also placed peer pressure firmly under the spotlight.
Masuku said some pupils could become involved in harmful activities simply because they had seen friends or classmates doing the same thing.
This, he suggested, makes prevention and early intervention particularly important because a behaviour that begins within a small group can influence others who want to fit in or feel accepted by their peers.
Another emerging concern raised during the discussion was the increasing use of vaping products in schools.
Masuku said some vaping devices could easily escape the attention of adults because they were designed to resemble everyday items such as pens.
Their availability in attractive flavours could further make them appealing to young people while making it harder for parents and teachers to immediately recognise what pupils were carrying.
Against this changing landscape, Masuku called for stronger guidance and counselling programmes in schools, saying teachers were increasingly expected to deal with complicated behavioural and social problems for which some may not be adequately equipped.
He said schools needed greater capacity to help pupils navigate peer pressure, drugs, alcohol, relationships and other challenges that could ultimately affect their health and future.
The situation, according to Masuku, was further complicated by overcrowding in some schools.
With teachers responsible for large numbers of pupils, he said it could become difficult for educators to give individual children the attention required to notice sudden changes in behaviour or identify those who may be struggling.
He stressed that HIV prevention education should also remain a strong part of interventions targeting young people, including messages encouraging pupils to delay sexual activity and make choices that protect their health.
The concerns come against the backdrop of figures presented by NERCHA Research Specialist Dr Mfundi Motsa, who reported that Eswatini recorded approximately 4 220 new HIV infections in 2024, compared with about 4 000 during the previous impact measurement.
The figures add urgency to calls for renewed and innovative HIV prevention efforts, particularly among young people.
While Eswatini continues its fight against HIV, the revelations from the Manzini dialogue suggest that prevention efforts may increasingly have to look beyond traditionally recognised transmission risks and respond to emerging behaviours among pupils.
Masuku’s message was clear: parents and teachers cannot afford to remain unaware of changing youth trends.
Greater communication between children and adults, strengthened counselling in schools, closer parental involvement and continued HIV education could prove critical in helping young people understand the consequences of dangerous experimentation.
The emerging challenge also underscores the importance of creating environments where pupils feel comfortable discussing drugs, peer pressure and other pressures they encounter before those challenges translate into decisions that could have lifelong consequences.
For families, schools and communities, the warning is therefore not simply about “Bluetoothing”, but about keeping pace with the changing realities confronting young people and ensuring that no pupil is left to navigate those dangers alone.
