Dawn
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13:58 Jan 26, 2026
In many South Asian households, the instruction comes early and often. A boy falls, scrapes his knee, and starts to cry. Before the pain is addressed, the correction arrives: “Boys don’t cry.” Sometimes it’s said gently, sometimes sharply, often jokingly. Rarely is it questioned. Yet, according to child and adolescent psychiatrists, this single sentence can quietly shape a child’s emotional, cognitive, and social development in ways that last a lifetime. Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed, Professor of Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatry at Faridpur Medical College, explains that childhood development is never just physical. “We usually give importance to physical growth,” he says, “But emotional, cognitive, and social development are equally important.” When one is disrupted, the others do not remain untouched. Emotional suppression starts early From a psychiatric perspective, emotional development depends on one simple but crucial skill: recognising emotions and responding to them appropriately. “A child needs to und...