Why Mankessim SHS students were seen ‘smoking’ wee in viral photo

• A photo of Mankessim SHS students reportedly abusing drugs surfaced online recently

• This raised eyebrows with Ghanaians calling on school authorities to act

• The school has explained that the photo was part of a project the boys were tasked with 

The Visual Arts Department of Mankessim Senior High School have officially reacted to the viral photo of some students who were captured in a viral photo smoking and sniffing cannabis on campus.

According to Patrick Ametepe, a visual arts teacher in the school, the said photo was part of a project the students were working on.

In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb, he explained that the concept of the project was based on drug abuse and its implications on young people.

Mr Ametepe noted that all visual arts students were tasked to address a social issue and how solving them will transform the society. He expressed worry that unfortunately one of the photos found its way on social media.

Explaining the motive behind the project, the teacher said, “The whole thing was under a photography project and it is part of their syllabus and as per the syllabus it is supposed to be within the confines of the school.

“They create a concept that will address social issues and that will even be a source of motivation to themselves and the youth which they happen to be part.

“Initially, you take a footage of compositions, so they themselves composed by more or less acting, then you take a footage of that but that footage happens to be a raw material which is yet to be edited on the PC on a software; photoshop or Coral Draw.”

The teacher noted that the substances displayed in the photo were pieces of plants for marijuana and grinded paracetamol as cannabis.

“It wasn’t cannabis. It was just a mere leaf, they only used the leaves to represent marijuana. Even the whitish thing there was grinded paracetamol. They went for the syringe from the sickbay then later returned them and it has been confirmed that they took the syringes back,” he added.

He noted that these students are final year students who are in line to write their WASSCE.

Click photos to view more of the projects these students carried out