A Non -Governmental Organisation, Mother’s Love Initiative, has urged parents to stop the onslaught of trauma meted out daily on the boy-child by the society.
The Chief Executive Officer, AMLI, Hanatu Enwemadu, stated this on Tuesday at a sensitisation forum organised to commemorate the International Day for the Boy Child, in Alausa, Ikeja.
Enwemadu who spoke on the theme, ‘The importance of a father and son relationship from the lens of the boy-child,’ noted that the boy-child is fast becoming invisible because society assumes that they are invincible.
She said, “Boys are hurried through childhood into adulthood and taught to mask their pains, as their tears must not be seen because showing their pains is a sign of weakness. They are taught to be tough: ‘Boys don’t cry!’ so they end up bottling their emotions.
“Again, there is a social but subtle bias against the boy-child. Disputes between a boy-child and a girl-child will invariably be settled in favour of the girl-child. Such stereotypes reflect the various degrees of the onslaught of trauma meted out daily on the boy-child by the society.
“Such assumptions have adverse effects on the psychosocial balance and development of the boy-child, and if not reversed, these anomalies may turn the young ones to be abusive in the future.”
The President of Computer Professionals of Nigeria, Mr Tunde Ezichi, also said the sordid situation in the country presently could be traced to certain parenting mistakes and certain missing elements in raising the modern boy child.
“The way I was raised is different from the way children are being raised these days, there are a lot of influences, societal influences, technological influences, security influences, what has happened is that the pressure of the society has tended to affect the people generally, enough time is not being devoted by the parents in the raising of their children.”
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