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5-year-old boys are given the same restrictions girls face around the world. They're not pleased.

Kids. Ya gotta love 'em.

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Gates Foundation

You never know what will come out of a 5-year-old's mouth.

Kids can be unpredictable little creatures. Their imaginations run wild, and they can be so curious, so fearless, and so brutally honest that it catches you off guard.

They can also be so on point.


A group of kindergarten boys were asked some important questions.

Global Citizen went to a classroom in Brooklyn, New York, to get the perspective of some young boys. It started out fairly normal:

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"



Solid choices, boys. Stay in school. GIFs via Global Citizen.

But then it took a turn. The questions that followed put them in a different situation — a situation that many young girls face around the world. They flipped the "roles" of boys and girls:

"What if I told you that only your sister was allowed to play football and learn math and become a president. And you weren't allowed to do that because you are a boy?"



Yeah, that's not fair. Thanks for noticing! GIFs via Global Citizen.

This social experiment touches on an important point: Millions of girls aren't allowed to do the things boys can do simply because they're girls.

According to The Girl Effect, 31 million girls of primary school age around the world aren't in school. 17 million of them are expected never to enter.

There are many reasons for this: They are forced into child marriages, they become young mothers, they are expected to work and to be at home, their culture doesn't see them as equal to boys, and more. Whatever the case, this gender divide has serious consequences for our world.

What kind of consequences? In Bangladesh, for example, $69 billion potentially could be added to the national income if just one million girls were able to delay marriage and becoming young mothers. $69 billion. And that's just one country.

Restrictions on girls keep them from reaching their full potential — but we're seeing progress.

While the numbers above might seem a bit overwhelming, we are seeing improvements in the treatment of girls and women through the work of many organizations and governments and by our next generation being pretty dang inclusive.

When boys like the ones in this kindergarten class view girls as their equals, it's a step toward a more equal world!

Right on, little man. I like where your head's at. GIF via Global Citizen.

These boys think girls should have the same opportunities as they do.

If you do too, consider sharing this or taking action with Global Citizen.


Time travel back to 1905.

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A woman looks to the ground in dispair.

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Representative Image from Canva

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