Boys think they're tough. Boys make funny noises. Boys will be boys.
Boys can be sweet. Boys can have potty mouths. Boys will be boys.
Boys will lust after women. Boys will take advantage of girls. Boys are controlling. Boys will be boys...?
We've been hearing a lot on the news about men sexually harassing or assaulting women. There are some who would say that this is just the nature of the male sex. They can't help themselves. Men will be men. Those people couldn't be more wrong.
Something that really boils my broccoli is when people brush things aside with an excuse such as "He's a man, what do you expect?" or "All men are just idiots". I've been hearing that a lot in my adult life. But I don't say anything. I just smile and nod while inside I wonder, does this person consider me an idiot?
Believe it or not, men actually can control themselves. They can be decent human beings. It's all dependent upon the way they are raised and the choices they make.
I was raised to treat everyone with respect, to treat everyone the same. It didn't matter what someone looked like. It didn't matter if someone was mean to me. I had to treat everyone kindly. To this day, I still try to treat everyone with respect.
Having worked with children as long as I have, I have heard a lot of little boys repeat words that they probably shouldn't be repeating. Not just swear words. I've had to explain to kids why they shouldn't talk or joke around about their private parts or, even more importantly, private parts of the opposite gender. This is psychology by Philip: If a child is permitted to joke around about sensitive topics, such as private parts, they are basically being taught that they have no boundaries when it comes to human anatomy. This makes them more comfortable with talking about the opposite gender in crude ways. This in turn may (key word may) lead to these children growing up still not knowing boundaries.
While I was working in a restaurant, a lot of my co-workers, male and female, would talk about their or someone else's bodies. I was usually the one trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. It just shocked me how casually people talked about sex, and with so much detail. It seemed as though people were only thinking about the body and not the person behind the body.
I could rant about this all day. But I won't. While raising your children, just remember:
Boys are messy. Teach them to clean up after themselves.
Boys are loud. Teach them to be considerate of those around them.
Boys can have potty mouths. Teach them the correct ways to use (or not use) certain words.
Boys will be boys, but that doesn't mean they have to be idiots.
No comments:
Post a Comment