We Watch Our Daughters More Closely, According to This Study
Tuesday October 14, 2008
According to a study in Bangkok, parents keep a closer and more watchful eye on their daughters and are a bit more lenient on their sons. While the study wasn’t done in the United States, it does echo the findings of previous studies done in other countries. The study examined the parenting behavior in six different aspects(click through for more resources on each topic): knowledge of whereabouts, rules, child relations, communication with parents about sex, parental disapproval of sex and parenting style.
The study also found "that the higher the parents' earnings are, the more likely they would spoil the children and the more likely the children would have an aggressive and delinquent behavior."
I have to agree with the study, it certainly seems that parents do treat their teens differently based on the sex of their child. What do you think? Share your thoughts, advice and experiences in our comments area.
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I agree parents treat their children differently based on sex. It actually starts as babies. You hear parents say things like “boys will boys”, etc. I also agree with the statement about the parents with more money spoiling the children.
On the other hand, each child, boy or girl, is a different person and some of how we treat out children is also based on that. How they react to you also colors how you treat them and the expectation.
However, in the end parents expect boys to have ants in their pants and girls to better at sitting still etc when young and seem to also treat girls like they might break. I know one woman who told me that the boys were safe being boys walking in the city, but girls were a target. I was like that’s not true, either sex can be attacked and mugged, its just that expectation that girls can’t take care of themselves as well as boys.
Your comment about higher income levels being associated with parents spoiling their kids more rings true. I’m hearing more educators who work in higher income level communities complain about entitled, overbearing parents who over-protect their kids. “Helicopter parenting” seems to pervade here; the kids aren’t the only ones misbehaving. But most parents really do have the best intentions…and when they understand that such behavior has a negative long-term impact they begin to be more selective about when they rescue and spoil their child.