Jack


 * How Gender Impacts Childhood**

Jack Reiss English draft My grandparent’s family friend, Adma grew up in a small Lebanese village 70 years ago. She remembers that all of the kids did everything together. Everyone did chores together, talked together, played together and went to school together. Gender didn’t matter, neither did age. There would be eleven-year-old boys playing with six-year-old girls. In a small village, everyone knows each other, you wouldn’t care if someone was a girl, or older than you, or younger than you. There might be one kid who is the same age and same sex as you. If the only kid to play with was three years older than you, you were going to play with that kid instead of just sitting there alone. So, everyone got used to playing with everyone, and everyone was friends with each other.

It shouldn’t matter to a seven-year-old boy if the only person to play with was a nine-year-old girl. In our culture, I think if a small community of kids of different sexes and ages grew up playing together, they would be shocked to learn that boys are supposed to go outside and play baseball while girls are supposed to stay in and play barbies. If you get different kids together at a young age, they will play with each other and think nothing of it. When Adma came over to the United States as and adult, she was very surprised that only eight-year-old girls showed up to and eight-year-old girls birthday party. By getting to know people who are different than you, especially at a young age, you get to know the person and see past those differences and be tolerant of different people. people.

The stereotypical boys childhood in the U.S at that same time would be very different. A normal boy would go out and play baseball in their backyards with their friends and sometimes their brothers. The boys sister would stay inside and play dolls with her friends. My dad told me that there used to be a path worn out in his neighbors old backyard because his best friend lived in the next house over. Back in the colonial ages, the girl would stay inside and cook and clean with the mother while the boy would go outside and do chores with his father. Once they were done, the boy would stay outside and play with his friends while the girl would stay inside and play with a doll. This was the way we got used to a typical childhood being, so it never really changed much at all. The way kids grow up is greatly impacted by where and when they grew up.

All telling, NO anecdotes makes it duller than it should be. Surely there is a story that captures workplace life as Adma saw it. Surely there is a second story that captures the change. Don't blame the interviewee here; go back and ask them to tell a story --MrC

I like how throughout your essay you kept referring back to the story you told at the beginning. I think that you need to expand your thoughts more and add more to what your main point is. - Alexis