L.Z. Granderson disputes the precept that boys are easier to raise than girls, citing disquieting statistics that show males' greater likelihood of dropping out of high school and being incarcerated.
Did you know boys are more likely to drop out of high school than girls? Or that there are more female college students than male? And did you know the imprisonment rate for men is roughly 15 times higher than the rate for women?
If this is what boys being easier to raise than girls looks like, could you imagine how many men would be in jail if raising girls got any harder? We worry so much about girls getting hurt -- and justifiably so -- but interestingly enough, the stats show it's our boys who are more likely to get robbed, attacked or even murdered. We see girls as fragile orchids and boys as plastic plants. But let's face it: At the core of this line of thinking isn't safety -- it's sex.
When someone offers this piece of advice, it's with the thinking that girls have to be protected from boys who will say and do just about anything to get in their pants. What's typically missing from this discussion is the challenge to parents -- particularly fathers -- not to raise a liar and a cheat.
True, parents of boys do not have to worry about them coming home pregnant, but does that mean an unplanned pregnancy can be considered "the girl's problem"? After all, a boy's girlfriend did not get pregnant asexually. That's why I'm Tebowing day and night, hoping my 15-year-old has the will to stay away from sex -- even though the world all around him tells him there's something wrong with him if he does.
Easier? Ha. Try different.
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