key to our future
By VERA DUSU
For years, global campaigns, school programmes and family conversations have rightly focused on empowering the girl child—urging parents to educate her, protect her and give her a voice. This movement has transformed countless lives and continues to address deep-rooted gender inequalities that once silenced women and girls.
Today, more girls are in classrooms, more women are in leadership and more daughters are daring to dream. Yet, as we applaud these strides, one truth quietly lingers in the background: we cannot build a fair society if we empower our daughters but fail to raise our sons to be responsible, respectful and decent human beings.
In many homes, girls are taught humility, empathy and good behaviour. They are reminded to respect others, manage a home and be emotionally sensitive. Boys, on the other hand, are often excused with phrases like, “boys will be boys,” or “he’s just being a man.” From an early age, boys are told not to cry, not to show weakness and to see toughness as strength.
Some are even discouraged from expressing emotions or helping with household chores, as if care and responsibility are feminine traits. Gradually, they learn the harmful beliefs that being male grants them authority, that control equals leadership and that women are somehow beneath them.
This silent social conditioning produces men who are emotionally distant, unable to communicate their pain or unwilling to take accountability for their actions. The consequences are visible all around us: rising cases of domestic violence, sexual harassment, cultism, rape, armed robbery and drug abuse. These are symptoms of a society that forgot to teach its boys to be good. Many young men today are involved in frightening behaviours because they were not guided at an early stage.
Most of the young men seen on the streets engaged in drugs, cultism and armed robbery were never taught the truth about the dangers of these vices or how they can ruin their lives. Teaching boys about the consequences of crime early in life can help them avoid such paths.
Training the boy child is not about weakening him or taking away his independence. It is about equipping him with emotional intelligence, empathy and respect. These are the same values we strive to instil in our daughters. A well-trained boy grows into a man who understands that strength is not domination but discipline, that love is not control but care and that true leadership means service, not superiority.
When we train the boy child, we are not only shaping his character but also protecting the girl child. Empowering girls helps them rise. But training boys ensures they are never pulled down again. When boys learn to respect girls as equals, communities become safer, relationships become healthier and families grow stronger.
Parents, teachers and religious leaders all have a vital role to play by telling boys the truth and showing the consequences of their actions. Let us praise boys not only for being brave but also for being gentle. Let us show them that kindness is strength, empathy is manly and humility is wisdom, not weakness. Let us raise sons who can cook, care, and communicate, just as we raise daughters who can lead, decide and dream.
The future we envision—where women walk freely, families thrive and men live with purpose—depends on how we raise our children today. The girl child deserves every opportunity to shine, but the boy child equally deserves guidance to grow into a good man.
Let us train both with equal dedication. Because when we raise responsible boys alongside empowered girls, we build not only strong individuals but a stronger, fairer and more balanced society—one generation at a time.