In the African community, it is deemed a great achievement for a woman to bring forth a boy child. In families where all children are girls, the mother of the children is indirectly pushed by the extended family and the community at large to work towards getting a boy child.

One would wonder why?

It is because the masculine factor is considered a sense of strength and security in a family.

That being complete and not necessarily agreeable by many people a question arises. As the world evolves, you probably have noticed the emergence of organizations that are focused on the redemption of the girl child. It has been the assumption of many that a female child needs protection and recognition. As true as this may be, the society needs to focus on these questions.

Who is the society protecting the girl child from?

Does the boy child require the same level of protection and whose responsibility is it?

Are there problems that actually face the girl and the boy yet more attention is given to the girl since the femininity has been deemed by the society as the “weaker vessel”?

Is the society assuming that masculinity in a boy child is enough to protect him?

With all this in mind, the society; being you and I should put into consideration that both boys and girls ought to be treated equally in every area of their lives. None is more important than the other. They both deserve equal level of education, protection and opportunities at large.

The thought of empowering a girl child more than the boy has shown clear results of neglecting the boy.

Evidently the girl child may have been neglected traditionally. Some communities in Africa gave reference to the growth and development of the boy child more than they did to the girl child. Boys were educated and received first class treatment. It was believed that educating a boy child in the family would benefit the family because he was expected to take care of his family. The girl on the other side was expected to grow up and get married to some well up young man, sometimes and elderly man would marry her and that would bring plenty of wealth for the family. This meant that the girl would only be trained how to do the house-keeping duties and nothing more towards modern education.

However, much has been done today to liberate the girl child and give her an equal position in life as the boy receives. That’s marvelous! Nowadays the girl child is protected against early marriage and is given the chance to go to school. Even better, there are great female leaders as a result of such wonderful work. Women who have received such empowerment are now contributing positively to the society.

The boy child on the other hand has been left far behind!

He has plenty of forces against him. Cases of boys brutally battered by their fathers or other relatives are rarely reported, they have been neglected. Many boys are rarely emotionally strengthened. They have been mauled instead, because they are expected to solve their problems. “Men don’t cry?” or do they? They are forced to hold back anger instead of being trained how to handle anger. No wonder they easily become easy target to crime.

It is statistically true that a boy will easily turn to crime and oppose the law more than a girl would. This is not due to his physical strength or his dare-ability but because he has not been taught how to handle problems emotionally.

For those who believe in creation by God, God mandated the man to be a breadwinner. Such great responsibility requires great strength. Strength in this case involves Spirit, Mind and Body! There is the need to be balanced in all the three areas. It is interesting that such balance is taught to a girl child in female empowerment programs while the boy does not benefit since he is not included in such training. It is interesting that there are plenty of men involved in female empowerment programs yet they fail to acknowledge that the boy child need to be empowered too. The growth of a child should a concern to all, whether the child is male or female!

Who is taking care of the boy child?

The strength of any human being should accompany the sense of responsibility. If the society is going to empower women only, then the expectation for responsibility from the female factor should be equally high. “To whom much is given, much is expected” right? Otherwise it will be one way of creating Women of Mass Destruction; an inbalanced society.

The question of equality should not mean empowering women and girls while ignoring and bringing down the men and boys but to give them equal opportunities and therefore the respect of all humanity.

Let us not deny the need to empower the boy child. He should be nurtured, emotionally and morally built as much as the girl child is.

What are we doing for the sons of Africa, the boys, the men in this world?