Boys do – and should be allowed to – cry.I was sat on a train the other day and a little boy who can’t have been much older than four started to silently cry.
It wasn’t forced or put on. It was quiet and barely noticeable, save for his shoulders bobbing up and down and the tears wetting his dark eyelashes, before rolling down his cheeks.
His parents, sat directly opposite and next to him, asked him what was wrong and he solemnly pointed outside the window to where everything was pitch black.
We were in a tunnel and, whether it was the dark or the feeling of being enclosed, he was scared.
It wasn’t his tears that surprised me in that moment. I know kids cry – it’s a pretty common way of communicating when you’re little.
It was his parents’ response that made me pay attention.
“Stop crying.”
“Come on, big boys don’t cry.”
All of a sudden, ...
English (US)