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nurturing 21st century children

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I want to share with your readers a about suicide or making the first self-
personal experience which has shat- injury attempt. I believe it is impor-
tered my belief that social attitudes tant for all parents to acknowledge
are changing for the better in India. that suicide among adolescents is a
Unfortunately, India is still a deeply reality.
patriarchal society with regressive Bullying, sexual molestation,
attitudes towards women, divorce and depression among other problems
marriage. can lead adolescents to contemplate
I faced an ordeal when I went to suicide. Children should know that
renew my child’s passport recently. they can rely on their parents for
Though my application clearly said sympathy, advice and counsel when
that I was divorced, the passport of- they experience depression and sui-
fice executive (male) unleashed a bar- cidal impulses.
rage of unnecessary questions about Mohamed Ansari
my divorce. When I replied that I Chennai
wasn’t comfortable answering them,
I was shunted from one department teach male children gender
to the other resulting in considerable sensitivity
delay.
Single parents acceptance Again, during my child’s school We are regular subscribers of
growing admission interview, I was asked sev- ParentsWorld. My son often tries out
eral questions about my divorce and the recipes included in the Health &
I salute ParentsWorld for publishing a financial status. It was embarrassing Nutrition section. Unfortunately my
powerful cover story ‘Don’t judge. to answer these questions before my in-laws make sexist comments about
Enable single parents!’ (PW Febru- child but I had no choice. Given the his culinary interest.
ary). As a single parent in the early rising number of single mothers in I wonder when Indian families will
years of the new millennium, I expe- India, my request to school manage- start changing their mind-sets and
rienced social prejudice and disdain, ments is to be more sensitive during begin teaching male children to cook
and had to move to three different admission interviews. so they can learn a life skill and most
cities with my daughter. Reeja S. importantly value the time and effort
In small town India especially, Kochi millions of women invest every day to
single moms are harshly judged and prepare meals. Gender sensitivity and
stigmatised for their personal and acknowledge teenage respect for women must be instilled in
parental choices. For instance, when suicide reality male children from young age.
we were living in Varanasi, we were Linesha Sarin
never invited to any social gatherings. Your story ‘8 ways to discuss sui- Delhi
But today the scenario has vastly cide with teens’ (PW February) is an
changed. Now my daughter is in eye-opener. It is a common miscon- informative & well-written
class XII and I realise that many of ception that suicide is an irrelevant
her peers come from single parent issue — most middle class parents Thank you for publishing an
households. There is definitely more including myself believe that it will informative and well-written
acceptance of single mothers than a never happen to our children. In fact, magazine on parenting. I enjoy
decade ago. it’s all too relevant in today’s hyper- reading the Health & Nutrition
Rashmi K. competitive era. and Kid Zone sections. It would be
Bangalore National Crime Records Bureau interesting to also read first-person
data indicates that suicide is among experiences of parents who have
Patriarchy deep & alive the most common causes of death faced child-rearing challenges and
among youth in the 10-24 years age their solutions. Please do consider
Your cover story on single parent bracket. Even more disturbing are including such a section.
households was relevant and timely media reports that a rising number Samita Trivedi
(PW February). As a single mother, of high school students are thinking Mumbai

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