Cyber Bulling

I have also written about bullying and as with racism on the internet, cyber bullying is also increasingly become common resulting in some teen suicides. Sometimes the bullying which is being done in the physical world is carried onto the world wide web and sometimes it becomes so vicious that some of the victims either shut down their social media links or had have enough to the point that they commit suicide. The anonymity and sometimes not on the internet is so powerful that unless you become emotionless, very few people can ignore it and commit suicide and then the stories come out that how they were bullied and could not take it anymore. Even if you inform the police, I don’t think they can do anything about it as no physical crime has been done, although I believe words can be as powerful as any physical weapon in hurting people.

Although bullying will never cease to exist but parents can do help their kids navigate through this sorry part of their lives as they can monitor their kids online activities and also keep track of any behavior that is out of the ordinary that may signal that the child is being bullied. Also reassuring the kids that the bullies are not going to harm them as long as they ignore their online taunts and be strong in every sense of the word. In case of this does not stop, the parents can approach their school and organize likeminded parents in stopping this cycle of bullying. I am sure different circumstances will demand different approach but there are ways to fight cyber bullying, you just have to be persistent in not giving in to their empty threats and taunts.

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Racism is alive and well and not going anywhere

I have written extensively (accordingly in my blog) about racism from different perspective. And with the election of the New U.S. President, racism has gone into overdrive and sometimes it is openly preached only to be pushed back by forces that are against it. A few years back, the U.S. was celebrating the election of the first Black President and now it seems we are back to square one as increasing incidents of racism are being witnessed, although people are trying to fight back as much as they can. In this age of technology, racism has a new face in the form of internet where you can post anonymously any sort of racist thoughts and images without the fear of public backlash. This form of racism is becoming more prevalent and increasingly abusive with only your fingers to fight back. Although people do call out the racist person but with so much anonymity afforded by the internet, it is hard to imagine that this will ever stop.

Although people who are faced with racist taunts and slurs try to fight back along with their supporters as much as possible and in whatever way they can, the only that I can see is to ignore them completely. Although I understand it is hard to do ignore and the urge to fight back is human nature but that is all these racist people need is to make their target angry and agitated and then their purpose is complete. If you ignore them long enough, their purpose will be defeated. Although it is not a clear cut solution as some of the racists can get infuriated at being ignored, but on the internet instead of launching into a back and forth tirade against racist trolls, it is best to ignore them outright and move on.

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Climate Change

Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it. This seems to be the case especially when one looks at the apathy of the world leaders towards climate change. Before we proceed further we must remind ourselves that the civilization such as Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa which attained very high levels of advancement such as sewerage, water ducts to carry it to the washroom showers etc. 5 millenniums ago were wiped from the face of the Earth because of the climate change. Therefore, the issue of climate shouldn’t be a subject of our collective ignorance and should be dealt appropriately. The humans have a tendency to overlook their long term interests for myopic benefits. This is the reason why, after the Paris climate summit 2015, the third world countries refused to abide by the regulations, since they believed that they are industrializing and it’s the industrialized first world countries who are responsible for the pollution, hence they should be the ones who should be subjected to regulations not them. To further exacerbate the sensitive situation and instead of efforts to placate third world countries, the magnificent new president of U.S.A Donald Trump refused to accept the Paris climate accord, setting a dangerous precedent for others to follow. However we must bear in mind that there are countries like Kiribati and Fiji facing an existential threat. Kiribati’s demise as a country is inevitable, and it would barely make it to 22nd century. Resultantly producing climate refugees, the situation is even more depressing when one witnesses the maltreatment that refugees generally are meted out and how world community has failed to cope with the ones that already exist. Taking all of this in account the future clearly depicts a dystopian picture and the world community must undergo course correction before it’s too late.

Submitted by B.H.

Rape Cases and Underage Marriage

Recently in South Asia cases of murders after rape of children and infants as young as 8 month have increased to unmatched proportions. These heinous crimes raised an outcry for the perpetrators to be held accountable and finally the lackadaisical authorities sprung into action and nabbed a few while many remain at large. The case in point in this piece is of Zainab, an 8 year old girl from Kasur Punjab, who was trapped by one of the neighbor through his devious tricks. After subjecting that innocent child to multiple rapes he killed her and dumped her body in the waste. Although this act should be condemned to hilt but this should also elicit others to reflect where they stand as society. Therefore it’s equally important to confess the malaise that have been affecting this region since time immemorial. In India and Pakistan girls in their days of innocence were married off in yesteryears and this practice continues to this very day, albeit not openly. The determining factor if a child is to be married or not was the puberty, if they have reached puberty it was ok to marry them whereas the age of puberty was determined according to the customary or the religious laws. This practice hasn’t ceased and takes place not openly but clandestinely at many areas, which begs the question if this under age marriage isn’t a form of marital rape? How many Zainab’s have suffered in the past and how many more are at the risk of suffering the same afflictions. It’s time that such antediluvian practice should be given up and for the society to not only settle with the arrest of the perpetrators but demand fool proof legislation and strict implementation against underage marriages.

Submitted by B.H.