The World Day Of The Boy Child is a recent revelry which started in 2018 to raise awareness on the need to fend the boy from toxic forces, it is parallel to “Save the Girl Child.
The International Day of the Boy-Child was launched by a university lecturer from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh.
Teelucksingh is also the genius behind International Men’s Day.
The Boy Child Day focuses on the welfare of the boy, which includes his emotions, values and growth into manhood.
Teelucksingh, a scholar on gender issues said that gender equality would not be fulfilled if boys remain unrecognised.
A lawyer and NGO founder of 'A Mothers Love initiative', Hanatu Enwemadu noted that the society is expending more attention to the wellbeing of the girl child, a concern which has led to the negligence of the boy child physically, morally, psychologically and otherwise, thereby leading to rising social vices.
Championing affirmative efforts to enhance the boy child's well-being, Enwemadu, whose organisation promotes willful fatherhood, appealed to fathers, male family members, and political leaders to conduct proper manners, morals and ideals worth imitating.
She stressed that a well-balanced boy child today will turn out to become a well-groomed gentleman tomorrow.
To provide a balance in the upbringing of both boys and girls, a family life coach and author of the book, 'Out of the box Parenting', Mr Praise Fowowe advises intentional parenthood based on the application of family system engineering, a process in which every family member impact on the other.
He also urged parents to share their childrearing blueprints with caretakers.
The founder of Boys Lives Matter, an NGO focusing on rehabilitation and prevention of sexual abuse of boys, Nkechi Macaulay supports the nurturing of the boy child in a loving family unit.
Macaulay called for a recovery of the communal childrearing, mentorship, what she called male education and a shift in the societal perception of the boy child.
Implying that many boys are wandering the streets without proper direction, Macaulay endorsed the structuring of more corrective places to check juvenile delinquency.
“To help boys who have been broken to find their way back to good morals and good living, too many boys are on our streets, they need to be rehabilitated, retrained, mentored and catered for so that they can turn out right and impact their community.
"And the government should look into recruiting more male teachers at the primary level of education so that boys can be mentored well by these male teachers, imagine a child who has no male role model at home and also come to school without having no male influence”
The speakers agree that appropriate grooming and protection of the boy child would avert some societal problems, which include spousal abuse and violent crimes.