“Raising boys and girls”

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Hi there

“I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong, I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls... About the boys, I don't know what to say“

Naturally, boys and girls are different in several ways, but they should be raised in the same equal way. What you teach the girl child, the boy child should also be taught. Parents teach empathy, love, independence, confidence, respect, care, and compassion; these are things both children should learn.

I would like to share my reasons why the girl child should be treated the same as the boy child...

Before a child is born, they start learning gender expectations immediately; their parents dictate if the baby is a girl or a boy. Raising a girl or boy child requires the same expectations, rights, and responsibilities to be taught.

Raising a child starts with parenting style. Every parent has a way of raising their children, and I think if parents could have a discussion on how to raise the girls and boys in an equal way, it would have a great impact on these children.

Parents can teach their girls and boys to respect each other, cooperate on tasks, and share things equally. The boys should not be afraid to show emotions like anger or fear because it is said that the boys are stronger than the girls, so they are not weak and shouldn't show such emotions. But I wonder, are they not humans? Of course, they are and should be taught to express themselves.

Both boys and girls should be taught how to do all kinds of chores, either cooking, sweeping, washing, taking care of young ones, using tools and machines, etc. No one should be left out.

Looking at the education sector, boys and girls should be given equal opportunities at school. Allow the girls to get involved in the boys games while the boys get involved in the boys games; it allows them to flow and relate accordingly.

Gender differences have been created in some cultures via social conditioning.
Where you bring the pink dress for the girl and the boy goes with the blue one, you get an airplane for the boy as he pretends to be a pilot, and you get a toy kitchen for the girl as she pretends to be a housewife.

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All these are creating emotions, feelings, and senses in these children. I think if they are allowed to choose and make choices, that means they are given equal rights and raised exactly the same way.

In some cultures, it is seen that the boy child is allowed to do anything he wishes to do, like staying out at night, bringing friends home, having a phone at a certain age, and attending extra classes, but the girl child is seen at home and restricted to so many activities. Gender inequity has been a major problem in some cultures to date, and I wish they saw the need to train a girl child as well as a boy child.

Let the girl and boy children live their own lives; they shouldn't be stopped or restricted to certain things. The boy should be allowed to do some kitchen exercise while the girl is allowed to wash the car. When a girl child picks up a toy gun to play with, she should be allowed to play with it without being told that it's for the boys.

This system has eaten so deeply into us that we find it interesting and comfortable to raise girls and boys differently. Some would say, "She's a girl, so we don't need to give her a free hand or else she spoils," but what of the boy? Don't you think he shouldn't be given a free hand?

Africans love to treat the boy child separately and the girl child separately. They say women's education ends in the kitchen, so for that, the girl child should always learn things about the kitchen while the boys don't go close to the kitchen.

I invite @mariami @pandora2010 @nancy0