On the right path
T he Kenyan Supreme Court’s decision was a historical achievement for the country (“Kenya’s chief prosecutor orders investigation into election board”, Gulf News, September 24). The decision to investigate the election board officials over possible offences in the invalidated August 8 presidential vote has given a glimpse of hope. However, they should not go beyond in their demands. It could be the key to disaster as it could open the door to uncertainty. The opposition should be thankful for this great achievement and take things easy without exaggerating their expectations. Africa is still moving slowly into the path of democracy. One step at a time. From Mr. Abubakar N Kasim Toronto, Canada
Online activities
O n one hand I applaud the information technology revolution for the development of people’s knowledge and skills, but on the other hand, the introduction of internet games that kill innocent teenagers and children, is very sad (“Dubai doubles down on smart technology”, Gulf News, September 25). The recent Blue Whale challenge was introduced by a 21-year-old that caused casualties around the globe. His intention was to make people to suffer. Games of this kind should not be introduced on social media platforms as a lot of school children get involved in them. Each country should monitor games that can influence children in a negative manner and should be banned. In my country, a lot of innocent school and college children were trapped by the Blue Whale game and those suffering from depression died. Today, most teenagers are influenced by WhatsApp and other chatting portals. All one has to do is choose very carefully. Unfortunately, teenagers are not mature enough to decide what is good or bad for them. Parents will have more expectations from their children in the future and these game will shattered their ambitions. Parents should monitor their children’s online activities more closely and should act diplomatically without hurting them. Teenagers are very sensitive. They should be tackled with care and parents should behave with them carefully. I appeal to India to ban the Blue Whale game, which has caused many deaths. From Mr K.Ragavan India
More parental involvement
P arents should help children feel confident and competent to boost their school attendance (“Study: Parental engagement bolsters academic excellence”, Gulf News, September 22). This will encourage communication between children and parents, which will in turn give them more confidence. The end results will be visible from their attitudes, social skills and higher academic grades. Parents should be aware of all the educational programs in their child’s school. To bring effective parental involvement, schools should take true initiatives to bridge the gap between the educational institutions and the student’s families. I think this will help students achieve more credibility in their learning skills. Children, in most cases, are successful when their parents are supportive and involved with their school affairs. It’s never too late to get involved by making their learning a priority. Teachers should find out if the children are really understanding and learning what they are being taught in the class because each child learns differently. This is a must. From Mr M K Gunaseelan Abu Dhabi
Cause has to be appealing
I believe celebrities do have a positive impact as United Nations goodwill ambassadors (“Priyanka Chopra proud to meet Malala Yousufzai”, Gulf News, September 22). Celebrities garner worldwide attention and help causes receive bigger funds, and they can also help motivate people to contribute, whether it is monetarily or not. However, I believe celebrities are facilitators rather than direct influencers. Not everyone has the same positive views towards certain celebrities – some people might like certain celebrities more than others, and they might be more inclined to emulate them or be inspired by their actions. Others may be less inclined towards contributing to causes just because a certain celebrity is the face of it. Such individuals make their decisions to contribute based on their internal values and whether the cause appeals to them or not. I believe I would contribute to a cause, only if the cause personally appeals to me. I am internally motivated to help in any way. Personally, I don’t care about which celebrity is a goodwill ambassador or which celebrity is the face of a certain cause. I do commend the humanitarian efforts and actions of celebrities, but I believe it is also important to be wary of the fact that some celebrities may have ulterior motives when it comes to being such ambassadors. Some celebrities may engage in self-serving behaviour and may want to enhance their own personal image. However, that is not to say that all celebrities have bad intentions. Most celebrities acting as goodwill ambassadors come from a genuine place of passion, care and concern. From Ms Aroushi Malhotra Dubai
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