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What does an 8-year-old girl in third grade know about dieting and watching calories? Unfortunately, a lot more than adults realize. Wrote one, "Being Britney Spears would be nice because you could wear a bikini without a big fat tummy sticking out all over the place." Study shows
girls are hurried
into adulthoodHow about a fifth-grade girl's feelings about navigating within her peer group? "I moved up the popularity food chain after I got new clothes."
These responses may not reflect what adults want to hear, but they come from the source -- girls themselves. This is why it's so important for us to listen to what they are saying. Like it or not, we need to hear what our girls are telling us.
Let's start with the results of a focus group study of girls ages 8-12, the first to be released by the Girl Scouts of the USA's newly launched research division, the Girl Scout Research Institute.
The study, "Girls Speak Out: Teens Before Their Time," was conducted by Applied Research and Consulting LLC, for Girl Scouts. It gives voice to 1,300 girls from throughout the nation on issues ranging from relationships to physical development and gender roles.
The new study clearly shows that child development is being "hurried" or "compressed" and girls, in particular, are being pressured to deal with typical "teen-age" issues before they become teens themselves.
Specifically, the Girl Scout study shows that for girls today, cognitive, physical and emotional developments are not working in sync. While cognitive and physical developments have accelerated, emotional development often has not.
Of equal importance, the study finds that girls want and need to speak out about stressful issues.
But disturbingly, many girls say their parents would be unwilling to listen to questions if the parents feel the girls are too young to ask them. A fifth-grader put it best: "All they say is I'm too young and I shouldn't even think about stuff like that until I'm 16. But I do (think about boys) anyway."
As they undergo more rapid changes, the girls in the study say they need family support more than ever as a source of emotional and physical safety. The study also indicates that leaving questions about girls' concerns unanswered may lead them to gather misinformation, or to believe their concerns are somehow "wrong," or to believe that asking the questions will lead their parents to trust them less in the future.
Studies like "Girls Speak Out: Teens Before Their Time," highlight the need for girls to feel comfortable expressing themselves, and to be heard by adults.
Girls have a lot to say. Their needs are important. This study makes clear that it's time for all of us to listen, whether we're parents, teachers or anyone involved in the growth and development of girls.
Girl Scouting has always provided an accepting and nurturing environment for girls, a place where caring adult mentors listen to girls' views, needs and concerns. Girls grow strong in Girl Scouting -- developing strong values, social conscience and conviction about their own self-worth. And girls grow strong in the knowledge that they will be heard.
A Native American proverb advises: "Listen, or your tongue will keep you deaf." In that same spirit, we in Girl Scouting implore everyone to listen to girls. Listen to girls and help them grow strong.
Sue Ann Wright is executive director
of the Girl Scout Council of Hawaii.