Are boys more trouble than girls? A fair few people think so, according to research published for the launch of National Adoption Week today. Nearly a quarter of men (24%) and a fifth of women (21%) said boys were harder to parent, in a survey for the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (Baaf). The charity fears these negative views may make it harder to find homes for boys waiting for adoption.
But is there any truth in it? Boys are blamed for knife crime and are more likely to be excluded from school. But girls have their fair share of problems too, from binge drinking to bullying.
Many childcare gurus suggest boys are not harder to raise, but different. That oracle of positive parenting, Supernanny, suggests they need to be approached in different ways to teach them to behave better.
But it's debatable whether all young people fit into simple patterns. Maybe children should be approached individually, according to their personality and environment. I find mine need to be handled differently according to how tired they are and whether they are likely to listen or play up in front of their friends.
Lucy Edington, the chief executive of ParentLine Plus, says calls to its helpline show parents worry equally about raising boys and girls. She says: "We believe boys are not more difficult to parent, they're just different."
Interestingly, the Baaf survey did find regional differences. In Scotland 21% said they would prefer to adopt a boy, compared to 17% who would prefer a girl. But in Wales and the south-west of England only 8% said they'd prefer a boy. Those preferences have serious consequences: Baaf said boys wait twice as long to be adopted in some parts of the country.
