Letters To The Editor


“The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” –Anne Frank



Karachi, the sixth most polluted city in the world

Pollution affects everyone and everything – from our environment to animals to humans. It’s not just detrimental to one area of life; it can be dangerous for all of it. Pollution occurs when an environment is contaminated with something that negatively affects the natural order of the environment. Any environment can be affected – from oceans and soil to the atmosphere. Urbanisation is one of the major factors for pollution. Maybe that is the reason why Karachi is ranked as the sixth most polluted city in the world today. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, people have increasingly congregated in urban areas. Karachi being the biggest city of Pakistan and the most urbanised and industrially growing too, people tend to move here and naturally, the more the population, the more use of vehicles and industrial fuels, hence the more pollution. And as this city is going towards urban development it is magnifying the risk of environmental hazards. The solution? We can reduce pollution by upgrading energy use and alternative transport systems and also by planting trees.

Irteza Khan,
Karachi.

Nursing; a neglected profession

Nursing remains to be the finest and the most respected professions around the world, but in Pakistan it’s quite the opposite. Despite the burgeoning need for nursing staff in hospitals, it remains a neglected line of work in our society. They are made to work for long hours on meager wages, with the increasing encounters of harassment and are also treated inferior by the doctors. The nursing department does not get its due recognition, low salaries and other issues often compel nurses to give up the profession. Pakistan Nursing Council should take steps for their rights, protection and proper training while promoting a positive image of their field of work. The importance of nurses should be acknowledged in every healthcare facility as the absence of nursing staff would lead to the collapse of a health facility.

Ramsha Ehsan,
Karachi.

Pets for children

Generally, most parents discourage and even prohibit their children from keeping pets such as cats, dogs, rabbits and other tamed creatures. They back this prohibition with concerns for their children’s hygiene and health. While their concerns are in the right place as parents, they are often wrong about the adverse affects of keeping pets. With careful supervision and care, keeping pets can be a healthy and refreshing experience for the whole family. There are several life lessons you can impart to your children just by getting them pets; such as sense of responsibility, caring for others and harbouring sensitivity and love for nature. But one should understand that maintaining pets is an added responsibility which shouldn’t be taken lightly. But the overall experience of having pets is so fulfilling that it trumps any negative aspects it may bring.

Mashaal Azfar,
Lahore.

Parental pressure on students

With an increasing importance being given to the grades and relative performance of students in academics, it doesn’t come as a surprise that it comes with a lot more pressure for students to deal with. Pakistan’s education system puts an unnatural amount of emphasis on memorising answers than actually educating the students. Somewhere in the process of memorising and the inability to perform in such a system, students generally develop a mindset of not being good enough, which can prove to be very harmful. Many cases of students committing suicide for getting ‘poor' grades in exams have been reported in the past years. This happens when parents put undue pressure on the children to do well in exams, way beyond their capacities. This is a sad reality of our desi households. What would our Pakistani parents rather have their children become? Healthy, positive and confident individuals, or depressed ones who end up taking their life?

Maliha Jamshed
Lahore.


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