Norm Crouse - Boys and Girls Lyrics

How do boys learn to be men?
Just how are we to teach them?
Should it be at home, or school
Or church where we can reach them?
What does it mean to be brave?
Where's the line 'tween wrong and right?
When's the time to walk away?
And when's the time to fight?

When is it they should persist
And when accept an other's no?
When to buck up and be tough?
Or when to let that feeling show?
When to be so soft and kind?
Or when to be aggressive?
When to be more understanding?
And when to be possessive?

Boys learn manhood day by day
From what we do. From what we say
If one is acting badly now
It's all because we showed them how
It's not sick. It's not strange
There's been no great big sudden change
If tomorrow it stays the same
Make no mistake, we're all to blame

How to girls grow to a woman?
How do they become one?
Read a book or watch a show?
Or pick it up from someone?
What it's mean to be a lady?
How to tell if they crossed a line?
When's the time to be loud and bold?
When's the time to be refined?

Should they learn to be submissive
Is that different than giving in?
When's it better to just adapt
To the man led world there living in?
How can they assert themselves
Without seeming like a shrew?
Should they use their feminine wiles
To get ahead at what they do?

Girls learn "woman" day by day
From what we do. From what we say
If one is acting badly now
It's all because we showed them how
It's not sick. It's not strange
There's been no great big sudden change
If tomorrow it stays the same
Make no mistake, we're all to blame