I got the opportunity to go to a workshop for work a couple weekends ago that was about empowering girls and helping them to navigate this wonderful thing called life and growing up. The presenter was from a company called Bold New Girls. I know as a girl how hard it can be growing up and some of the struggles that we face. Coming from a Child and Youth Care background a lot of what was talked about fit with what I learned in school; self-care, physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual health.
The presenter talked about how girls are expected to be seen not heard or act proper, but what is proper? Why is it so wrong for a girl to make mistakes? She also talked about empowering girls to be brave. I took from that that we should encourage them to try things and not be afraid of making mistakes. That it is okay to step out of that box that society has put us in. Girls are just as capable as guys to do anything they set their mind to and helping girls to understand this and set goals and take positive risks is so important.
As a girl myself, I know how hard it can be to deal with all the different emotions and changes that occur as you grow up. But having someone to talk to is the greatest thing that a girl can have. Whether that person is a parent, teacher, relative or whoever, but someone that you trust. The presenter talked about empowering girls to explore their emotions, all of them. Taking ownership of how you're feeling and being able to identify the emotion can be a difficult task as a young girl who is told to smile and not show how you really feel. Being able to talk to someone about those emotions and helping to identify them and not dismiss them. Validating how they feel and not making a girl feel like she should not feel that way is so important.
There was a discussion as well around bullying. Which at my work we have seen an increase in. It has been an uphill battle teaching the kids about bullying. The presenter said words matter and girls need to be responsible. I think this is very true. There are times when we speak out of anger or jealousy or any other emotion, and we do not always realize what affect that may have on the other person. Girls are a lot more relational when it comes to bullying. They use gossip and rumors to hurt others, while boys are more physical. Not saying that girls can not be phyiscal and boys can not use words. Growing up is hard enough and when you feel like you are being bullied or left out it can make it that much harder. Girls can be mean. I think it is important to teach girls that you don't have to be best friends with everybody but that doesn't mean that you can be mean to others. I grew up in an incredibly small town. I went to school with the same 100 kids from kindergarten to Grade 12. I wasn't best friends with everybody, but we all got along. I could see in other grades the bullying and cliques, but my class didn't have that. It was quite amazing. I think having grown up with that I see the importance in teaching girls and boys that inclusion and just being nice in general can go a long way.
I think that everybody should go to this workshop. I wish that I could write more about it and in more detail, but I don't want to bore you all with my ramblings. This workshop definitely reminded me why I went into Child and Youth Care in the first place. The passion in which the presenter talked just made me want to pick her brain and spend more time with her. She gave us great books, websites, TEDtalks, etc to look at for even more resources and tools. I may not have wanted to give up my Saturday morning to go to this workshop at first, but I am very glad I did.
Song of the Day: Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
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