Young children and young adolescents are among the most fragile human beings in the world. Whether mental, emotional, or physical, their body and mind are going through a whirlwind of extreme, life-altering changes. These changes, at this time, can sometimes be put aside, as they are just growing and adapting to life as they grow, but what parents don't realize is is that this period of growth will dictate the rest of their lives. Like adults in their careers, children are constantly held to high standards. Usually, these standards depend on the gender of the child, meaning that boys are expected to do one thing, while girls are expected to do the other. Some may believe that everything is fine, that everything is fine. But this is not the case; Telling a young child how they should or shouldn't act could potentially affect who they are for the rest of their life: preventing them from being who they really wanted to be. Gender, according to the American Psychological Association (2011), is described as the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person's biological sex. By the time a child reaches the age of three, they are fully aware of their gender. Lawrence Kohlberg (1966) believed in the theory of cognitive development. Through the process of self-characterization, once a child learns that he is a boy or a girl, the information is sorted by gender behavior and the child will behave accordingly (1966). In Kohlberg's studies, he determined three distinct stages of cognitive development as they relate to gender development. Step one: basic gender identity, which states that a child realizes that he or she is either male or female, but has not understood the concept that it is 'a constant... middle of paper.... ..acy. Madison: Brown and reference. April 14, 2014 Lee, L. (2008). Understanding gender through Disney weddings: A study of young Korean immigrant girls. Journal of Early Childhood Education. April 16, 2014 McEwan, I. (1978). The cement garden. New York: Simon and Schuster. April 11, 2014McNair, S., Kirova-Petrova, A. and Bhargava, A. (2001). Computers and young children in the classroom: strategies for minimizing gender bias. Journal of Early Childhood Education. April 14, 2014. Weinraub, M., Clemens, L.P., Sachloff, A., Ethridge, T., Gracely, E., & Myers, B. (1984). The development of gender role stereotypes in third grade: Relations with gender labeling, gender identity, gendered toy preferences, and family characteristics. April 16, 2014Witt, S. (January 1, 1997). Parental influence on children's socialization into gender roles. .Retrieved April 11, 2014