PARENTING: How To Get The Best From Your Child – Expert

When it comes to raising kids, gender comes into play as every child is an individual and factors such as genetics, environment, parenting styles and upbringing play key roles in how a child turns out.

The kids whether girls or boys are raised differently because they come in different forms from birth, with distinct brains and grow at different rates.

According to a British psychopathologist, Simon Baron-Cohen, the average female brain is better at empathizing with others, while the average male brain is better at systemizing and predicting outcomes.

The debate as to whether these differences result to gender bias in child-rearing by parents has raged for decades.

In assessing which gender is tougher to raise TheWhistler in this report sampled the opinion of some Nigerian women and experts.

A civil servant, Yetunde Adewole, who has two boys and two girls said raising children mostly depend on the peculiarity of the child.  According to her, it’s not really about gender.

“In some cases when the girls are under five they are quite easy to cope with unlike the boys that are all over the house and scattering and jumping all over.

“The girls are calmer,” she said.

In reverse, she shared that when the girls are getting to puberty, you need to do more because, at this stage, they want dominance and independence, unlike the boys that easily listen to instructions.

On her own part Mrs Ruth Jacob said the temperament of each child and the know-how of the parents is what determines the level of difficulties in raising a child.

“I have a girl and she is just 20 months but from observing other children, I can say the sex of the child does not determine how they are raised but to understand their behaviours.”

A Nigerian psychiatrist and the medical director of Pinnacle Medical Services Lagos, Maymunah Kadiri, in an email exchange with our correspondent said it was important to understand that raising children is hard work, regardless of gender.

“When it comes to assessing which gender is tougher to raise, one should never discount the “grass is always greener” hypothesis as studies have found that parents of girls often believe they’re harder while those with boys make the same claim of males.”

Weighing the pros and cons of raising both genders, Kadiri said girls are emotionally “high-maintenance”, while boys usually go in for a rough-and-tumble play.

“Most moms have complained that this is not easy on them or their furniture.

“In fact, science confirms that testosterone makes the average male brain more prone toward roughhousing than the average female brain.”

She further explained that communication can be challenging with a boy compared to a girl.

“Your female child’s brain might be more inclined to discuss which Saturday morning cartoon to watch, while your male child’s brain may simply state that Pokémon is the better choice.”

She, however, stressed that the key to successful parenting, whatever the gender, is to figure out what makes your children tick and how to make their personality work with your own adding that the behaviours that seem challenging to parents may have positive qualities.

 “In other words, whether raising a male or female, there’s always more than enough difficulty to go around. So every parent should look for the joy buried in the tough stuff and run with it.”