Timely & useful advice
Your Health and Nutrition column (PW December) ‘Protecting children from air pollution’ was timely and informative. With the onset of winter, children in major cities are being exposed to high levels of toxic air pollution which is causing respiratory infections and other health problems. Pulmonologist Dr. Ganesh Pratap’s preventive measures were very useful. With the government doing very little to control rising air pollution, the onus is on parents to ensure their children are protected from the adverse effects of inhaling toxic air.
Diwakar Mike
Bengaluru
Lead by example
Your cover story on digital addiction urging parents to practice what they preach (PW December) has hit the nail on its head. Children and teens are merely mimicking parents’ digital behaviour. To greater or lesser extent, parents are addicted to the Internet, digital gizmos and social media platforms, but choose to be in a state of denial.
It’s time for parents to accept that their digital addiction is fuelling their children’s digital dependence and follow insightful advice featured in the cover story on ways and means to digitally detox and switch to a healthier lifestyle. If we aren’t able to control our screen time, how can we preach to our children? An ounce of example is better than pounds of preaching.
On another note, I tried your Christmas cake recipe which turned out to be a big hit with my family.
Mrinal Panda
Bhubaneswar
Off-beat careers
Your Careers Watch story ‘Rising demand for art curators’ (PW December) was specially appreciated by my teenage son who is an art enthusiast. He has taken fine arts as an elective in class IX, and I believe a career as an art curator is worth exploring. There is little practical information available in the public domain and your essay was well-researched and informative. Looking forward to PW featuring more off-beat careers.
It was also refreshing to read your Fun with Words feature on chiasmus and the very informative Early Childhood story which busted myths about milk and health drinks.
Shireen Babu
Hyderabad
Greater parental duty
Your cover story on parents digital addiction (PW December) made a good case for parents to reduce their digital dependence and set a good example for children. However I don’t believe you can compare the digital addiction of children and parents. For one, children’s physical and mental needs are different. Two, there is no pressing need for them to use digital gadgets for work. Three, adults have the maturity to make choices about what to watch and how much. True, they can go overboard, but they are expected to self-regulate. On the other hand, parents have a duty and responsibility to strictly monitor and regulate their children’s screen time.
Therefore I believe that the greater duty of parents is to enable and empower their children to break free from digital addiction through a mix of strategies including strict monitoring, education, patience and understanding.
Shreeja Shah
Mumbai
Focus on extra-curricular activities
I enjoyed reading your Adolescence story on why teenage children should be encouraged to engage in debate and public speaking (PW December). My elder son is a transformed teen after he took up debating as an extra-curricular activity. He is more self-confident, outgoing and sociable, self-assured, disciplined, and more importantly has learnt valuable research, information gathering and communication skills.
Another activity I would highly recommend to parents is theatre/drama. It does wonders to children’s confidence, public speaking and presentation capabilities. I strongly advise parents to focus not just on scholastic work and exams but also co-curricular activities which majorly contribute towards developing children’s all-round personality and life skills.
Manasi Heba
Pune
