Parents angry at poisoning at school

Press, 7 October 1985, Page 2

Parents angry at poisoning at school

PA Rotorua Some of the parents of the 30 children who were admitted to Rotorua Hospital on Thursday after swallowing highly toxic crystals say they are angry about the incident. Suggestions had been made that some of the children at Taupo’s Tauhara Primary School had been forced to sample copper sulphate crystals by other children, said one parent who did not wish to be named.

Most of the parents were angry about the incident and would have to get together to find out exactly what had happened, she said. One of the boys in hospital said he had had the crystals wiped across his mouth by three other boys. The parents praised the actions of staff at the school.

“They did all they could. They were very concerned and all the teachers were still there when the last ambulance left on Thursday

evening,” said one mother. The headmaster, Mr Peter Nankivell, denied on Saturday that the substance had been forced on children. “There had been some rough and tumble, and children chasing one another, but that was just normal activity,” he said. Mr Nankivell said that it was lucky he had noticed what was happening so early —“it could have been a real disaster,” he said. Some good had come out of the incident, however, as' children at the school were now aware of the dangers of unmarked substances. Rotorua Hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Kevin Greene, said that none of the children was seriously ill and most would be discharged, but five might be kept back for further observation. Dr Greene said the last tests done on the children on Friday showed that their copper levels were all within normal limits.

“I don’t expect any lasting effects,” he said.