Remembering the boy child
Huge gains have been made in empowering the girl child and in granting them equal opportunities in the workplace and in life. However, it is appalling the amount of neglect the boy child has been subjected to, in the journey to get here. The plight of the boy child is slowly slipping into obscurity.
Media houses this week asked whether parliament should be disbanded for failing to endorse the gender equity bill that would have guaranteed more women sitting in parliament? It is a noble initiative to increase the proportion of women in any institution or corporation. In fact, according to research, the resultant effect is improved return on investment. However, the means recommended raise a lot of questions.
Re-arranging the gender distribution mix to accommodate a third of women would push the country forward, however demanding new offices which would cause an additional strain to the tax payer, in an already ballooned public sector wage bill, shows the extent to which unconscious bias still reigns in the society in which we live.
The level of crime, single parenting and broken families has been
burgeoning because we have raised a fatherless generation. Are we raising a generation of abrasive, manner-less and directionless men? Woe to our children. With zero communal support, the boy child is an endangered species, with no one to serve as an example we shall reap a chain of vagabonds.
Our boys need mentors. I know there are a lot of responsible men out there. Tag them in this affirmative action to remember the boy child. Spare an hour a week to spend time, with the boy child. What the boy child needs is a father and a role model. Together for the boy child. One boy child preserved is a generation secure.
Until we speak again, am your host Mitchell Odhiambo. Welcome to a man’s world. To get a female perspective on this, please click HERE to read my colleague Lillian’s views.
