Pashtun Children

The Pashtuns believe that children are a blessing from  God.  Sons are preferred over daughters. The more sons a man produces, the greater his prestige in the community. Sons often work alongside their fathers in the field or learn their father’s profession.  Girls work alongside their mothers and are taught from an early age how to take care of the home.  Older girls are often responsible for the care of the younger children and have responsibilities ranging from washing dishes to preparing full meals. The girl is prepared from childhood  to  assume  the responsibilities of a wife.  Marriage is a religious duty. Singles have no place within society. Pashtun males usually marry their cousins on their father’s side. This is done to keep the landholdings within the extended family. Once a young male is married, it is the beginning of his own identity as a husband and the head of a family.

The life of Pashtun children varies drastically.  In the cities an increasing number of girls are earning a BA at university. In the villages girls are allowed to go to school, if at all, only up to fifth or sixth grade. After that they must stay at home. Boys’ education is sometimes forfeited because they must work to help the family survive.  Literally  thousands   of  children have  been  left  orphaned by the Afghan wars and must  provide  for  themselves.  In some cases, when the father is killed and the mother remarries, she is not allowed to  bring  her  former  husband’s children into the new home.  The children are then left to fend for  themselves, shining shoes in the market places, selling bread, digging through rubbish for goods to sell; doing whatever they can to survive.