Think back and count how many times as a child you were told boys will be boys, boys are just mean because they like you, or, oh, you know how boys are.

I would like to call to attention how those phrases are not only wrong but, in fact, ridiculous.

If you have not encountered these phrases being said, then no worries, this is the ridiculous part: They are still said to children.

Since when is gender a valid excuse?

Since when did we stop holding people accountable for words and actions?

Boys will be boys dismisses that child's actions.

When that boy is to grow up and become a man, the excuse "men will be men" will not be valid. If a boy is to shove a girl on the playground, it is because he likes her. If a man is to shove a woman around, it becomes abuse.

Boys will be boys. When does that boy become a man and when does that excuse begin to not hold on its own? At what age is it no longer permissible? Who is to set this age?

The line for this is so thin because in fourth grade it was acceptable, but by fifth grade you should know better.

Hair pulling and pinching were fine when you were younger, but then it develops into sexual harassment.

Something that was excused your entire childhood became punishable.

Why was this fine from the start? Why did no one say this was not a proper action?

Children will not know any better till you tell them what is the better choice.

The mentality of a boy who is instructed that his actions are OK because he was told boys will be boys has the potential to develop into something much more.

When you tell a girl that a boy, being a boy, is being mean because he likes her, that damages her perception.

Instead of asking yourself, "Why do the nice guys always finish last," or saying, "Girls always go for the jerks," ask yourself what made them act this way. Why has this become an acceptable behavior?

Maybe women go for the jerks because that's what they were taught since they were little. He likes me because he is mean to me.

No, a boy is mean to little girls not because he likes them. He is mean because he was not put in timeout. Instead, he was encouraged by the adults in his life who said boys will be boys.

This should not even be about how boys treat girls, how they treat boys, etc. This should be a basic principle on how to treat other humans.

Instead of boys are mean because they like you, how about boys are nice because they like you.

Instead of boys will be boys, it should be boys will be human beings.

Your child's gender does not set the guideline of their actions.

You should.