Why Girls?

“Creating a “safe space and encouraging a healthy “girls community” where girls can form real friendships allows them to experience environments where they are not held to standards more suited to and designed for boys and men. These approaches are now recognized as important best practices in girl-centered programming.” Girls in Canada 2005, a report prepared for the Canadian Women’s Foundation

“It was a great experience to do over the months, I learned a lot and it was fun and I would love to do it again. It’s awesome and fun to learn to be a leader and not being shy anymore”. Grade 8 girl, commenting on participating in the Discovery Leadership Program 2007 – Girls Inc. Of Northern Alberta

Picture the world through girls eyes. She is growing up at a time when women have unprecedented opportunities and yet she is painfully aware of the fact that women are much more likely to be viewed as sexual objects rather than leaders. She learns about the accomplishment of remarkable women in school but is surrounded by media that advertise sex appeal as the key driver of success and celebrate careless, self destructive behaviour among young women. She sees the women around her – no matter how successful – worry about their weight and their looks. She knows women who work hard, sometimes at two or more jobs, and still bear the responsibility for raising the children and taking care of their homes.

Status

• Happiness with life declines between grade 6 and grade 10 for all youth and at every age, boy are happier than girls. In 1998, 48% of grade six girls and 55% of grade six boys reported that they were “very happy” about their life. By grade 10, only 26% of girls and 35% of boys reported being “very happy”.
• Girls are more likely than boys to be dissatisfied with their appearance, and to wish they were someone else. In 2002, 58% of grade eight girls and 55% of grade ten girls said, “I would change how I look if I could.” Only 34% of boys in both grades felt this way.
• In 2001, almost half of girls in grade six were already dieting and this increased steadily to 58% by grade ten.
• A survey of 1,700 girls in junior high and high schools in Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton found that 27% of girls were exhibiting unhealthy weight loss behaviour, including 12% of girls ages 12 – 14 who reported binge-eating episodes, and almost 7% who report self-induced vomiting to lose weight.
• Girls are hospitalized because of attempted suicide three times as often as boys.
• 12% of girls grade nine and 17%  in grade 11 reported being pressured to have sex when they did not want to.
• Girls were the victim of 79% of family-oriented sexual assaults in 2002. Girls are four time more likely to be sexually assaulted by a family member than boys. (Canadian Women’s Foundation – Girls In Canada 2005)

Vision

Now, picture a girl growing up at Girls Inc. She sees a safe, supportive community – a place that’s just for her and other girls. She is embraced by smart people who value her as an individual with essential worth, who appeal to the best in her, and who help her realize her full potential. She is filled with the sense that she is entitled to be heard, to be taken seriously, to dream big dreams and develop the knowledge and skills to pursue those dreams. She is uplifted by the strength of a national organization that is proactive on the tough and sensitive issues that affect her, that evolves quickly to her changing needs, that is committed to learning and growing, and that holds itself to the highest standards. Knowing that Girls Inc. Is there for her, she envisions a future without limitations.

Girls feel lucky to grow up at Girls Inc. Women who didn’t wish they could have. Spouses, sons, daughters, employers and the community benefit when they do.

Imagine a place that allows girls to focus on their interests, at their own pace, free from distraction and comparisons. That place is Girls Incorporated of Northern Alberta. We give each girl leadership experience, build her athletic skills and competitive spirit, teach her money management skills, self-reliance and life skills, nurture her ability and interest in science, math and technology, equip her with critical health and sexuality information and foster her self-respect and self-determination.

 

Conclusion

• When girls hear about Girls Inc., they want to join.
• When parents hear about Girls Inc., they want their daughters to participate.
• We are the organization of choice for hundreds of girls and their parents because we deliver professionally-developed programming by trained and supported staff.
• We believe that all girls are strong, smart, and bold,,, and we are fully committed to ensuring that every girl has the opportunity to rise to her highest potential