Most parents want their sons and daughters to have equal chances of success when they grow up. Today, equality of the sexes is largely mandated by public policy and law. However, old-fashioned ideas and a lot of prejudice are still part of our culture and present challenging questions for parents.
      Gender stereotypes are rigid ideas about how boys and girls should behave. We all know what these stereotypes are: A “feminine” girl should be insecure, accommodating and a little illogical in her thinking. A “masculine” boy should be strong, unemotional, aggressive, and competitive. How are children exposed to these stereotypes? According to the researchers David and Myra Sadker of the American University of Washington, D.C., boys and girls are often treated differently in the classroom. They found out that when boys speak, teachers usually offer constructive comments, when girls speech, teachers tend to focus on the behavior. It’s more important how the girls act rather than what they say.
      The emphasis on differences begins at birth and continues throughout childhood. For example, few people would give pink baby clothes to a boy or a blue blanket to a girl. Later, many of us give girls dolls and miniature kitchenware, while boys receive action figures and construction sets. There’s nothing wrong with that. The problem arises when certain activities are deemed appropriate for one sex but not the other. According to Heather J. Nicholson, Ph.D., director of the National Resource Center for Girls, Inc., this kind of practice prevents boys and girls from acquiring important skills for their future lives.
       “The fact is,” says Nicholson, “that society functions as a kind of sorting machine regarding gender. In a recent survey, fifty-eight percent of eighth-grade girls but only six percent of boys earned money caring for younger children. On the other hand, twenty-seven percent of boys but only three percent of girls earned money doing lawn work”. If we are serious about educating a generation to be good workers and parents, we need to eliminate such stereotypes as those mentioned previously.
      Gender stereotypes inevitably are passed to our children. However, by becoming aware of the messages our children receive, we can help them develop ways to overcome these incorrect ideas. To counteract these ideas, parents can look for ways to challenge and support their children, and encourage confidence in ways that go beyond what society’s fixed ideas about differences of sext are.

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Which of the following could be the main idea of the passage?