Gender stereotypes and gender bias permeate everyday life. Children learn gender roles very early in life, probably before the age of 18 months, and certainly well before entering school (Howe, 1). The behaviors that constitute these gender roles often go unnoticed but their effect is immeasurable. Simple behaviors like: the color coding of infants (blue and pink), the toys children receive, the adjectives used to describe infants (boys: handsome, big, strong; girls: sweet, pretty, precious) and the way we speak. grabbing and holding them are just some of the ways sex roles are introduced. These behaviors form the basis of gender roles and future encouragement from parents and teachers only reinforces gender roles. Toys, literature, media, and movies also encourage gender roles. Men are depicted as “acting,” while women are always “receiving.” In this article, 5 articles focusing on gender roles were used. The articles examine the harmful effects of gender stereotypes and some of the ways gender roles are emphasized in schools. Research into gender stereotypes is currently growing. There are many theories regarding its existence. Some attribute gender roles to media, literature, and society, but it is a combination of all of these factors. Despite parents' best intentions not to encourage gender roles, starting in kindergarten, children will demonstrate behaviors specific to their gender. This phenomenon is thought to occur because children know they are either a boy or a girl, but are trying to figure out exactly what that means (Seid, 114). The behaviors that children appear to learn have gender-specific characteristics. Examples of appropriate masculine behaviors include: aggression, independence and curiosity. Feminine behaviors reflect the opposite of masculine behaviors: passivity, dependence, and shyness (Howe, 3). Parents have a strong influence on the gender roles that children acquire. If gender roles are stereotyped at home, children will imitate the behavior observed at home. Simple parental behaviors, such as who drives and who pays for dinner, influence children's perceptions of gender roles (Seid, 115). This question has been the subject of extensive research. Howe states: "Schools function to reinforce the gender stereotypes that parents have taught children, middle of paper... dictated in exemplary fashion by upper class, white males. That excludes well over half. the population of the nation. Our country says that essentially only a few of us, the elite, will govern and make the rules, but we expect everyone, regardless of how those rules may affect your life, to obey them. which places a number of our citizens at high risk of failure. Society must change to meet the growing needs of its population. Although most research suggests that gender stereotypes permeate our society and schools, there are ways to discourage them. It will take everyone's voice to change the way society presents boys and men, girls and women. We are doing our children an injustice by encouraging these roles. increasingly aware of their practices in their classes. It is very easy to fall into the trap of sexual segregation; we must all support and encourage our..