Boys Rule, Girls Drool

Dear Lowdown:

Why do girls mature so much faster than boys do?

Sylvia Montijo (Chicago)



Dear Sylvia,

Girls mature faster than boys. It has been said millions of times, but nothing is ever black and white. There is always that grey area. And I say that this subject happens to have a large grey area. Children’s brains develop in different ways, not on the same path as most neurologists previously thought. In 2007, the world's largest study of brain development in children was published and their results demonstrated that there was no overlap in the trajectories of brain development in girls and boys (Elsevier). Yes, girls do act more maturely at younger ages, but only in certain ways compared to boys of the same age. But, of course, everyone knows that boys are actually more mature.

The fact of the matter is that boys are very mature; they just choose not to show it to everyone. Every boy, from the day they are born, has an innate knowledge that they understand the world much more easily than girls (Sorry ladies). Boys do not play house or play with dolls; they play with toys that encourage them to explore, learn, and ultimately enjoy life to the fullest capacity from a young age. Even if a boy is introverted, he can explore inwardly and follow a different path in which he pursues other endeavors, such as a musical or an intellectual activity. The exceptional part about a boy’s maturity is that every boy hides it from the world whether deliberately or subconsciously. Boys push themselves to become intelligent, physically active, and socially graceful. The most matured part about a boy, though, is his competiveness. From a very early age, boys begin to push themselves to the limit of what they are capable of. Whether they succeed in these ventures relies on their determination, but they will continue to strive until they find the niche that best suits them.

Girls may mature socially faster than boys and develop their fine motor skills, as well, but when it comes to handwriting and sewing both are becoming less and less useful. In this age of technology, a kid will only need to learn how to type and write their signature. Few girls today are required to sew their own clothes or create household linens. No one will need to be able to write lengthy narratives legibly or sew dainty garments, so the early fine motor skills do not contribute to a huge gap between the maturity of a boy and that of a girl.

A girl’s early maturity is often evident in her social skills. A girl may be very adept at creating new friendships with other girls, but with this skill comes jealously and the need to fit in with others. The early development of social skills is just a distraction for young women. If they learned to follow the example of boys, girls would be much better off. Because of boy’s late-developing social skills, they have time to learn about themselves first before attempting to learn about their peers. This shows that we are deep ladies, not as shallow or brain-dead as some of you may think. This allows boys to become comfortable with themselves first before attempting to learn about their peers and before becoming immersed in social situations. Boys have the advantage of time to learn about themselves before they attempt to cultivate or understand relationships with others.

Boys also develop much more practical skills earlier than girls. The first skill sets that a girl develops are included in the creative and linguistic areas of a young girl’s brain (Hanson). On the other hand, the boys’ brains are maturing in the parts concerning targeting and spatial memory, areas that mature about four years earlier in boys than girls (Hanson). Another obvious reason why we are better, we do not just go out there and improvise, we learn and adapt. They learn how to build and construct things when they are younger. They are already changing the world all around them with each step. While girls may excel earlier in art and language, boys excel more often in math and science because of their innate affinity and learned enthusiasm for each subject.

The different learning patterns all come back to maturity. Boys are without a doubt more mature at an earlier age than girls. Boys are just smart enough to hide it. The longer boys act immature, the less work boys have to do and the more time boys have to enjoy their youthfulness before they need to become men and incorporate themselves as productive members of society. We just happen to be smarter and more conniving than girls to make adults all think we are immature little kids. Sometimes we act just like little kids, but are you not jealous of the amount of fun we have? Boys are superior to girls without showing it. You can thank our modesty.

Sincerely,

Jack Kalanik






Works Cited
• Elsevier. "Sexual dimorphism of brain developmental trajectories during childhood and adolescence." NeuroImage 15 July 2007: 165-173. NASSPE: Research > Brain Differences. Web. 3 Nov. 2010.
• Harriet Hanlon, Robert Thatcher, and Marvin Cline. Gender differences in the development of EEG coherence in normal children. Developmental Neuropsycho