Thank you Katherine Igbende for putting up a post on ‘International Day of the Boy Child’ the other day. As you celebrated your son, you brought awareness to me. I didn’t know about this.
I went searching and reading about International Day of the Boy Child. I found out that it is celebrated every 16th May. This tradition which began seven years ago in 2018 is not officially recognized by the United Nations (UN), unlike International Day of the Girl Child.
From the very scanty Wikipedia page, it states it’s significance as; “Recognizes the importance of boys’ well-being and the challenges they face, while also celebrating the positive aspects they bring to their communities and families”.
I have heard a fair amount of women complain about the manners and behaviors of the men in their lives. I always tell them that it starts with us, the mothers. Children don’t groom themselves, and especially in Nigeria, we, the mothers are responsible for grooming our children. If we focus so much on the girl child and neglect the boy child, how then can we bring up better men than the ones we complain about?
I fear for the boy child. If a day has been set aside to recognize them and almost no one knows about it, I worry for them. The boy child has come second to the girl child for some time now, and as we see the Girl Child rise and grow in confidence, strength and resilience, we neglect to see that the boy child suffers and lacks a lot.
The boy child may be an “endangered species”. This may be a metaphor but it is very real.
I also found out that the theme for 2025 is “Building Self-Esteem in Boys: Stand Up, Be Heard, Be Seen”
As a mother of an 11 year old boy, I am happy with the recognition of the boy child. I don’t know for how long he has answered to the nickname, but he told me last holiday that his nickname was Sigma. We talked and I loved his understanding and I must say that I was proud of him, and a tad proud of myself.
For whatever reason, the boy child has been recognized and a day has been set aside specifically for them. I suggest that we all rise up and work together to recognize the challenges of the boy child and work together to raise the men of the future.
