The little boys have it slightly easier than the girls. While they also may be expected to take care of younger ones, it is only for a short period of time. They are soon relieved of baby-tending and given more interesting activities to do such as learning to become part of an efficient working team by helping the older boys master their jobs skills. This definitely shows a clear issue of favoritism in regards to gender. As Mead puts it, "small girls are brusquely pushed aside, while small boys will be patiently tolerated" (20).
Samoans often do not have a close relationship with their children when they allow their extended family to criticize and demand services from their younger relatives. Mead describes, for example, how "a little girl may escape alone down the beach to bathe only to be met by an older cousin who sets her washing or caring for a baby; for children, an hour's escape from surveillance is almost impossible" (30). How different this is from the way that Westerners typically treat their children. It is unlikely that a Western child at the age of six or seven would be given the responsibility of rearing a younger child. We tend to give these types of responsibilities to a young adult preparing to enter into adulthood. At six or seven we want our children to enjoy their childhood, not rushing or forcing them into adulthood by burdening them with all the responsibilities that the Samoans typically do. Also, in our Western culture we have a family unit generally consisting of parents raising their own children with the absence of extended family interfering by telling parents what they should be doing. .
It is clear by observing the Samoan's traditional treatment of young children that they do not want them standing out above anyone else. This is not only evident at home but also in regards to the child's education. The Samoan child's education has traditionally been kept very simple.