To celebrate the international day of the girl child, a couple of people brought together girls and boys of various secondary schools. The goal was to talk about gender inequality and its effect on women and society as well as the way forward.

The girls were asked to write things that make them feel disrespected and some of their answers frightened the audience as it became obvious that even the young girls feel the heat of gender inequality.

Years after women have been allowed to vote and partake in activities that they used to be based on, gender inequality still seeps into every space now and again. The big question then becomes, how can we fix a problem that has been in existence through decades and generations.

The answer although not as easy as it looks is “from the root”!

At the conference, the boys from the various secondary schools were asked to write ways they can respect girls in their schools better. While some answers showed that some boys have learnt to respect the girls as they would a boy, some answers showed that some boys did not think girls should be respected. It dawned on the audience that the problem was far deeper than a conversation or a conference with 10 to 12-year-olds.

To solve such an issue, we would need to plant a new kind of seed for the root to start growing differently.

In a society like ours where there are many versions of definitions of cogent things, it is important that a child learns the first and correct definitions from the smallest unit of the society; a family first. If a boy is taught to love and respect his sister and his female cousins, he is in turn bound to love to respect his female cousins and his female classmates.

Girls grow up to be women and so they are taught and trained like future women who will build a society. Boys grow up to be men and so they must be taught and trained like future men who will build and raise a society.