Yesterday, I saw a woman walk into a coffeeshop with her child on a leash. I had a visceral reaction to it; I stood there dumbfounded, and imagined what this boy will endure in the future. There is a big problem with how we are rearing boys now. Boys are falling behind in school compared to girls. Boys are Disproportionately diagnosed with ADD/ADHD than girls. Boys are put on meds that may prove detrimental in the long term. Finland ranks top three in the world for education. The children have on average three hours of class, a huge recess (where they get to exert energy), and have little to no homework. We need to change things up and fast. I'm not saying that we could successfully adopt Finland's model if we tried, but we need to do something. The leash was a reminder of how far we've fallen.
I'm one of four boys. We used to ride bikes from sun up to sun down. We used to be left to our our devices. We didn't have parents scheduling every hour of the day. Our parents didn't fight our battles for us. Boys were boys and girls were girls. We had the Boy Scouts for Pete's sake. Girls still get to keep their Girl Scouts though, and that's what this is all about! Boys will be boys used to be a cute saying. Now, it's a disparaging comment. The Gillette commercial demonstrated that when they went on about how Toxic Masculinity is ubiquitous in the culture. This is the Western World, and we've granted the most equality the world has ever seen. Women can vote (but should they... jk), Gays can marry and we can shittalk the government till the cows come home. We did it; we created a virtual paradise. Look at the freedoms experienced in most of the world, and they pale in comparison. There is no country that can eclipse ours in our freedom. I'm not saying we're prefect or better in all ways, but this a shining example of a society.
Right now, we've hit a snag. Leftism has permeated childrearing. I'm not a parent yet, but I've worked with kids plenty. Boys and girls are different. Boys need to roughhouse. They thrive in rough and tumble play. They need fathers. Boys will grow to be men. Men need to be strong, and that takes a particular kind of nurturing. It doesn't take putting a damn leash on them. Let them run, play and take risks. The Millennials have been damaged by the bulldozer parent. Sure, we don't want children running around Lord of the Flies style, but we can't stifle them either. It's a balancing act, and the balance is nonexistent. I may be a little dramatic at the moment. I live in the North East, and that means I'm in a very Leftist land. So, I may be seeing things askew. I don't like what I'm seeing in my own culture though, and hope it isn't this way in the rest of the country.
Boys will be boys. Boys aren't dogs you put leashes on. Yes, they may be monkeys; so, a little law and order is needed. Let's do better, and not walk our future men around like they're in a chain-gang. Give them enough room to grow, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes and gain the confidence they'll need to lead us to greatness.