Girl Power: Teaching Female Worth
February 25th, 2010
A parent recently asked me what the school is doing to ensure that our female students develop positive body images and high self-esteem. This parent also expressed concern that the school offers few sports opportunities to young girls compared to those offered to male students. I must confess that this has moved me to reevaluate our sports program with the female student in mind. I also feel it is necessary to examine what is happening in the world around me in order to understand how best to approach these issues.
Young women are bombarded every day with images of often-unattainable female perfection, teaching them false ideals of self-worth. While visiting relatives in Kuwait, I noticed that even in that very religious country there is an abundance of ads for women’s clothing plastered on the walls of shopping centers. This made me realize that today culture is shaped to some extent by the need to sell products, not just in the United States, but all over the world. I am afraid that as hard as we work in school and at home to nurture strong young women, the world around us is creating more powerful messages that equate happiness with being thin and beautiful, and success with being an object of attention for the opposite sex.
Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” is bringing this issue to the forefront. In partnership with organizations such as the Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Club, and the Oprah Show, this effort is an important start to changing society’s obsession with equating worth to being beautiful according to media standards. Like Dove and its campaign, I think we as a society must seek more positive images for our children. Young girls should be inspired by women who represent strength, confidence, and compassion — not by the hottest actress, prettiest pop star, or newest Victoria’s Secret model.
Unfortunately, we cannot change the world overnight, but we can change our community. With National Women’s History Month in March, this is the perfect time to start teaching our female students the real meaning of self-worth. An improved sports program for our female students is one way, and we are working on this. But there is more we can do. How can we as educators begin to ensure that our female students grow to be strong, independent women who value themselves and what they can offer the world rather than insecure women influenced by airbrushed images of celebrities? I welcome your ideas for new ways to inspire self-confidence in our female students.
When I read Dr. Larry Afrin’s comment in response to my
What do you think about homework? Do you think that children are not working hard enough or learning enough if they are not getting enough homework? Or do you think that children today are getting too much homework?
For this blog post, I began writing a piece on a book I am reading by Tony Wagner titled
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Graduates, as you leave here today, I urge you to apply this attitude to your own life as an avenue to success. You too are about to step into unknown territory, and no one can tell you with any certainty where to go to find what you are looking for.
Parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, and graduating seniors, good morning and welcome to the 2009 Charleston Collegiate Commencement Ceremony. I have been asked to fill in as your commencement speaker today, and I am honored to do so.
For the past three months I have been writing blog entries that presented my educational background, and now I find myself in a school at 73 and still thinking about how to provide a proper environment for young people to use for their learning.