Name: Oneil McQuick
Date: June 5, 2004
Subject Asked: What does it mean to “act like a man?” Is there anything dangerous about urging boys to do this? Explain.
How Done: In class writing, journal.
School: BCC, ENC 1101

“Come on Charisee, you know you want to ‘I’m a man now’ ” said the young teen boy to his young teen girlfriend while on a date last Saturday night. Charisee was later found dead and raped.

This is typically called peer-pressure, that is, doing what your peers are doing or indirectly forced to do so. In this case, to have sex. Though that might be true, it is also indirect parental pressure; that is, telling the young teen or pre-teen boy to “act like a man.” Though to the parents this seems innocent, shrugging off a child’s annoying behavior, it can be dangerous. For what is told to the boy doesn’t just affect his present behavior but is embedded in his though process and future exploits. Thus he’s now indirectly forced to grow up before his time.

Imagine a young green fruit given to you to eat, isn’t it distasteful? Of course, so is a boy who thinks he’s a man: Hence, wrecked lives, teen crimes and the many teen menaces we face in our societies. Kids should be kids and in fact, the teenage years is not a time to be an adult but go through adolescence, that is, adult-lessons. It’s a time to explore oneself with God to gear for the future adulthood. For this to take place correctly, the child shouldn’t have many responsibilities, pressures to grow up before time and other externalities that hinders self-exploration in God.

I was fortunate to have been given this privilege to explore and do all that is in my heart (as far as I could see), resulting in many achievements and finally found myself in God, in the ministry. If I were distracted with growing up before my time I would not only be a defect to myself, but also my society and purpose. Let the child grow; and like turning from hating girls (toddlers) to can’t live without them (late teens), so will turning to adulthood be automatic. God is a genius, he already set these thing in motion, don’t try to help him, by telling your child “Act like a man/woman!”

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