I enjoyed reading the Fun with Words section on dysphemism, the antonym of euphemism (PW November). It’s great for children to learn about the various figures of speech.

My children listen to all kinds of music, and I wonder if it’s age-appropriate. While I keep an eye on what they watch on television, I’m aware that music and other forms of media often feature inappropriate content. I would appreciate if you can feature a music guide for children.

Sharad Laxman
Bangalore

Easy lunch box plea

Introducing vegetables into a child’s diet is one of the toughest challenges for parents. Your Recipes section featuring vegetable chutneys seems like a brilliant way to get children to eat their veggies (PW November). For parents who are struggling to sneak greens into children’s lunch boxes, I suggest adding spinach, minced broccoli or grated cauliflower in scrambled eggs; pumpkin pancakes; strawberry smoothies with carrot addition.

It would be nice if you can publish some easy-to-make lunch box recipes.

Sridevi Sastri
Chennai

Qualified counsellors need

Recently a class XII student in my son’s school committed suicide. It has shaken all of us in particular my 13-year-old. Your story on teen suicides (PW November) explained why adolescent children are vulnerable to mental health problems. In today’s social media-obsessed world, teenagers are under constant scrutiny of peers. Add to it academic pressure and the burden of parental expectations.

I shudder to think of the number of children who have ended their lives because they didn’t know to whom they should tell their troubles. All schools including government institutions should provide the services of qualified counsellors to help children cope with mental health problems.

Shobha Varghese
Bangalore

Relevant & timely

Your cover story ‘Raising male children in the #metoo era’ (PW November) was relevant and timely. Sexual harassment is no longer a problem of the adult world. Several surveys reveal that by the time girl children graduate from high school, most of them have experienced some form of molestation and sexual harassment. That’s why it’s become important that we start early and educate children about women’s rights and freedom from sexual abuse and harassment.

Popular cinema also perpetuates gender stereotypes and passes off stalking and sexual harassment of women as part and parcel of the wooing process. Gender sensitisation and awareness of the social and legal consequences of sexual harassment should be made compulsory in all school and college curriculums.

Deepika Jain
Mumbai

Commendable initiative

Thank for publishing an information-packed parenting magazine. It’s a praiseworthy and commendable initiative. All your stories are mines of information and insights.

In your Careers section I request you to feature careers on legal process outsourcing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybercrime and social networking. Also information and rankings of distance education institutions and a quiz corner for children will be very helpful.

Harminder Singh Gumbhir
Lucknow

Right preschool guidelines

I liked Aarti C. Rajarathnam’s essay on ‘What’s the right age to start preschool?’ (PW, August). The ‘right time’ guidelines given by her are indeed right — that a child should have been weaned, be able to spend time with people other than parents and able to communicate with them, besides being able to reasonably take care of herself in a setting outside her home.

I sometimes wonder how many parents have tried to ‘school’ their children at home i.e, teach them skills that are generally regarded as ‘academic’ skills such as learning the letters of the alphabet. In my experience it’s possible to teach toddlers as young as 8-12 months to arrange cut out letters of the alphabet correctly on a board (such as magnetic letters), though it might take another two years for them to even begin to vocalise the letters clearly.

Ram Thiruvengadam
Rajkot