"backward" ... and the Qur''an memorization schools are "closed"
A consultant in the field of family and community medicine warned of what she described as the "underdevelopment" of the health and nutritional status in girls ''schools in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. These warnings came against the background of a field study conducted by a Saudi Medical Association on a number of these schools in a random manner, to measure the extent of girls'' awareness of the number of One of the health and nutritional concepts that must be followed to avoid the disorders and problems associated with this stage.
Dr. Amal Bajri, a consultant family and community medicine consultant at King Saud University in Riyadh and a member of the Society for Family and Community Medicine for "Asharq Al-Awsat", considered that some schools for memorizing the Holy Quran for girls suffer from being closed in dealing with girls'' physical problems in adulthood, pointing out that girls in these Schools complained to them about deleting the subject of genital anatomy, which is scheduled in their curricula approved by the Ministry of Education, under the pretext that it is a departure from the norm and a procedure against customs and traditions.
Bajari was not satisfied with talking only about Quranic schools for girls in Saudi Arabia, as she took upon herself the task of disclosing daily phenomena and behaviors practiced by some students, such as the phenomenon of smoking and consuming energy drinks, which I considered to be more dangerous to the health of girls in adulthood, in addition to the number of Of the girls deliberately taking the drug «pendulum» added to these drinks in order to achieve a kind of feeling of false euphoria, as described.
The family and community medicine consultant hinted that energy drinks with added "pendulum" pills mean the concentration of caffeine in the blood, which is reflected in the mental focus of the girl.
She revealed that the field study carried out by her association in cooperation with the health units administration at the Ministry of Education, the Saudi Red Crescent Authority and the General Administration for Drug Control in Riyadh, included 14 schools, as part of an action plan that targeted more than 30 girls ’schools in Riyadh, confirming that they took over the supervision. With a specialized team visiting girls ’schools, while another team visited boys’s schools, provided that the rest of the schools will be completed at the beginning of the next academic year, given the delay in starting studies and the time for final exams in Saudi schools.
Bajri highlighted what the study revealed in terms of poor health and nutritional concepts among a number of female students, in addition to the teaching staff and workers in girls ’schools, considering that unhealthy and fat-saturated nutrition led to an exacerbation of a number of health problems for girls in schools, most notably“ youth love and skin problems ”in a way. Public.
Bajri pointed to a number of results that resulted from their field study, the foremost of which is the poor perception of a number of female teachers in girls'' schools regarding issues affecting public health and personal hygiene for girls, noting that this deficient perception also includes mothers in their communication with their daughters, while It relates to the psychological and psychological changes that occur to a girl in adulthood and the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Bajri called for the need for concerted efforts by a number of relevant authorities to avoid the health and psychological risks that await girls in girls'' schools, if the situation continues as it is, considering that the situation is an urgent need for the participation of all segments of society so that these official interventions achieve their goals to change the current situation.
Bajri disclosed the nature of the field study that she conducted with her scientific team, which relied on interactive lectures and the distribution of questionnaires to the students to reveal the extent of their awareness of healthy nutritional and health behaviors in dealing with behaviors affecting their health, while that study focused on feedback through the participation of girls'' mothers. In a meeting about the changes resulting from the attendance of their daughters to these awareness and educational lectures.
Bajri indicated that one of the difficulties they faced during that field study was the gap that appeared to them between the teachers ’handling of the problems facing students during adulthood and the physical and psychological changes that accompany it, noting that many students are reluctant to ask about the physical and psychological changes they mean. During adulthood, which leads some of them to search for answers, Bagre described it as information that is mostly medically incorrect, and some of it leads to physical and health harm to the girl.
Bajri confirmed that most of the schools included in the field study suffer from poor infrastructure, in terms of the availability of appropriate places to host such awareness and educational lectures, noting that many schools do not have a lecture hall, while some do not have the necessary audio technical equipment for them. .
Bajri considered that the interaction of Saudi students during those lectures was often negative, noting that the non-Saudi students showed greater interaction, understanding and awareness worthy of admiration, and at the same time she wondered about the reasons for Saudi girls ’reluctance to benefit from such qualitative and important lectures in their healthy lives. This is due to the weakness of family communication and the intellectual structure in dealing with these occasions.
Dr. Amal Bajri confirmed that the response and cooperation in girls'' schools was wonderful according to her description, with the exception of one of the schools whose management refused to receive a special guide from the Drug Enforcement Administration, believing that she would inform the students about matters that they should not know about drugs, which reflects the wrong understanding For some school officials, who believe that isolating female students and not giving them any information prevents them from falling into common problems, considering the existence of a follow-up program for seminars that were held in agreement with education departments, which will lead to good results in alleviating the health problems of young schoolchildren.
On a related level, Dr. Muhammad bin Othman al-Rukban, a consultant of family medicine and a member of the association revealed that the Saudi Society for Family and Community Medicine in Riyadh has implemented programs during the summer season through summer clubs and Quran memorization schools, including seminars and competitions related to the health, social and psychological health of young people.
Dr. Al-Rukban considered that the role of the association is complementary to the role of family doctors in the Kingdom, explaining that Saudi families rarely go to a single family doctor, so the establishment of the association came to activate the role of family doctors in society.
Al-Rukban added that one of the most important goals of the association is to emphasize the transmission of correct health information to young people during the various stages of study, as it is one of the important stages of development, in addition to cooperation with the central school health unit, its units, the General Directorate for Narcotics Control, and the Red Crescent Authority to spread the culture of dealing with any A problem related to health or any danger surrounding the school student.
The program comes within the framework of the responsibility that the Family and Community Medicine Association adopts towards the various segments of society, and with the support of the Arab Gulf Program for Supporting United Nations Development Organizations, which is one of 5 distinct programs to educate young people about the health dangers surrounding them as well as to prepare health practitioners to deal optimally with this category .
