Socialization is divided into two parts, primary socialization that takes place in the early stages of child growth up to adolescence and the secondary socialization that from birth to adulthood as one encounters new groups that require additional socialization ( Hardin & Greer, 2014) . The most important gender developmental changes take place during adolescence resulting in a more mature acquisition of sex and gender roles. The social structures; family, school, religion, media, and peers provide a learning opportunity for the teens to acquire precise awareness on what is considered to be appropriate for a certain gender depending on their sex differences. Throughout the development stages, men tend to more often engage in direct aggressive behavior as opposed to women. Research has revealed that boys engage in physical aggression that is mostly not an option for girls ( Hardin & Greer, 2014) . However, both boys and girls engage in verbal aggression.
Reinforcement of aggressive behavior in boys
Teens are subjected to complex gender socialization by the family, teachers, media, and peers. Boys tend to be very vocal and more often shout as opposed to girls who use soft voices to address people. Girls learn that shouting is wrong and could be accompanied by negative social sanctions. On the contrary, shouting is accepted for boys and more often accompanied by positive social sanctions. Culture theorists believe that the play behavior of the boys and girls manifest themselves in different cultures that both sexes acquire as they grow ( Estévez et al., 2012) . During the early stages of growing, the children form same-sex groups that go up to early adolescence. The peer groups are centered on gender. At the teenage when the two cultures mingle, the girls retain their passive cooperation strategies of communicating that they formed in their playgroups while boys maintain their aggressive culture in attaining their goals.
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Boys are classified as aggressors and victims and are more often victims of physical bullying in school ( Estévez et al., 2012) . The subsequent bullying leads to fights in schools as victims defend themselves from their aggressors. The culture of solving disputes in a direct aggressive manner grows in the boy as opposed to girls who result in relational or indirect aggression.
Interventions
Child caregivers should use a more specific gender intervention approach given the differential socialization process for the boys and girls; the risk factors and protective factors should also be different. A specific plan should be developed to handle girls who use direct aggression against their peers. Research has revealed that girls who result in direct aggression do it more frequently and with greater intensity than boys ( Estévez et al., 2012) . The female aggressor also exhibit signs of stress and depression. It is essential that child caregivers look into the matter and seek to get to the bottom of the stress disorder to be able to come up with a lasting solution of an alternative that the girls can use, such as reporting their issue to the teacher or their guardians. Socialization structures, family, school, and media should remove the gender stereotypes that often result in aggressive behavior of different genders. The dynamic nature of the society should be embraced to put to an end the traditional way sidelining roles and certain behaviors to a certain gender ( Hardin & Greer, 2014) . Young boys should be socialized to know that violence is socially unacceptable and receive negative social rewards for the violence meted of their peers. The caregiver should be careful about the sentiments that they often use while tending children; for instance, it would be wise to avoid relating boys with roughness and disorganization.
Conclusion
The implicit and explicit socialization messages that men and women acquire from the various socialization institutions catalyze the gendered behavior, such as men acquiring aggressiveness while women acquire nurturance. Early interventions to socialize teens in the right way will positively challenge gender differentiation.
References
Estévez, E., Povedano, A., Jiménez, T. I., & Musitu, G. (2012). Aggression in adolescence: A gender perspective. Psychology Aggression: New Research , 37-57.
Hardin, M., & Greer, J. D. (2014). The influence of gender-role socialization, media use, and sports participation on perceptions of gender-appropriate sports. Journal of sport behavior , 32 (2), 207.
