Science has confirmed the obvious, that females mature quicker and at a much earlier age than males. Females mature more rapidly than males not only biologically, but emotionally, as well as in their brain, to which the publication Cerebral Cortex published a study stating: “Previous studies have shown that the brain does a lot of re-organising during puberty, there is greater activity during this time… Around 10 to 12 you start to see a lot of activity in the brains of girls as this pruning takes place, but it was between 15 to 20 for boys." Female's superiority over males in school is demonstrated by their higher grades than males, to which the American Psychological Study states: "From elementary school through graduate school, females have a distinct advantage in grades."
While there isn't much that males can do to biologically mature faster than females, there are many things that can be evaluated and tried so as to give a better opportunity for males to mature earlier and more successfully at a younger age emotionally, which would probably be then reflected in more successful brain cortex development. It is of critical importance, that efforts and studies be made to achieve this, because the fact that males mature emotionally more slowly and are graded lower in school than females, has serious repercussions for society in regards to male's future success in life or lack thereof, to which ultimately it is society as a whole that must pay up.
First off, there is absolutely no reason to take a fatalistic outlook in regards to this male maturity issue, because the objective is not necessarily that males should become equals to females in emotional maturity, but that instead that there should be an improvement from the current mindset and a better understanding of the development of males in our society. It is important to recognize, that the efforts that we put forth today will pay dividends later, as by so doing we should see a decrease in violence, delinquency, drug dependency and the like. All of these aforementioned behaviors are behaviors that demonstrate a lack of vision, a lack of control, a lack of caring, a lack of opportunity, and a lack of good character.
Males are not the same as females, and consequently to encourage right behavior from males, will often and logically take a different toolset than one used for females. Probably the best way to develop maturity in males is to help them recognize that their decisions matter and to hold them therefore accountable for the decisions that they make, rightly or wrongly. That is to say, it is important, that males are afforded the opportunity to be independent, to challenge themselves, to explore, to test, but at the end of the day, they must also be able to take responsibility for their actions and for their consequences, without equivocation or excuses.
The modern world has changed how children are developed and brought up in society. In agrarian times, children had responsibilities and chores on behalf of their family at a very young age, and for those in the cities children were often apprenticed or indentured to others. No doubt, children of those times matured at a very young age, or found themselves wards of the State or worse. Times are better now, because the good and sound education of a child's mind is the foundation that society needs in order to better itself and to create good citizens. It is therefore our responsibility to do our part to help develop our children's minds and maturity so that in this acquired wisdom they will not depart from it.