BY NELLY NELSONS OTTO
JINJA
PARENTS and child-care givers in Busoga, like many parts of Uganda have given more attention to the plight of the girl child who is considered weak and vulnerable at the expense of the boy child who is traditionally considered strong to the detriment of society.
Senior Presidential Advisor on Poverty Alleviation in Busoga Mrs. Florence Mutyabule observes that in Busoga in particular and Uganda as a whole, there is an increase in the number of boy children dropping out of school that end up joining criminal gangs because of hard life.
“…parents will be more concerned about the welfare of their daughters than the sons, they will make sure the daughters have enough pocket money and scholastic materials while the sons are left to hustle…”she pointed out.
She also blames the current wave of family instability including divorces in the sub region to poor parenting of the boy children who take themselves as superiors and bosses to the enlightened wives.
She is concerned that even most gender equality campaigns by the state and NGOs do focus a lot more on protecting girls while forgetting that boys also have their issues to grapple with.
“…they are the ones robbing us along the streets, they defile and rape, they murder without mercy, they are a real security and social threat to the community which failed to guide them at childhood stage…”, she notes.
Mrs. Mutyabule now wants a shift in social policy to address the disparity so that the boy child is equally handled and prepared adequately to be ready to face the world’s challenges.
“…you find in most homes, parents are very strict on the girls to sit properly, return home early, avoid wrong groups, while the boys are left alone without any guidance…”she laments.
It’s not uncommon to see school age going boys are always found doing odd jobs as helpers, hawking assorted items like shoes, clothes, and polythene bags, plus edibles like fruits, groundnuts in urban centres.
Most of these children end up as street kids and eventually grow to become gangs that terrorize the population.
As a retired school headteacher, Mrs Mutyabule also notes with concern that girls who get pregnant are always dismissed from school while the boys are left to continue with their studies.
Such boys, she says, will be the ones to marry the well brought up girls and in most cases the marriage does not last because the boys were not prepared by their parents.
As a way forward, Mrs. Mutyabule is encouraging parents and guardians to embrace balanced parenting of caring and guiding all the children under one roof without discrimination.
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