Move over, boys; make way for Girl Power!
By Don Kirkland
When it comes to setting a positive emotional roadmap toward adulthood, boys historically have gotten the lion’s share of attention—school sports, Big Brothers, Little League, Pop Warner. Only in the past few decades have many of such previously all-boy organizations made room in their programs for those pesky girls.
But even this newfound proliferation of services hasn’t fully addressed the emotional needs of girls during their early teen years, suggests Katey Boak, the Kyrene School District’s youth enrichment supervisor and architect for local implementation of a nationwide movement called Girl Power!
Boak says the notion of starting a girls-only program came to her while she was a teacher at Pueblo Middle School. She held some informal discussion groups with girls and, despite the fact that only a few years separated her from her students, admits she was shocked by some of the issues they brought up.
“I heard what was going on and I couldn’t believe it,” she says. “I was in denial.”
Of particular importance to girls from sixth to eighth grades, Boak says, was their interaction with peers, parents and, of course, boys, all of whose expectations of them differ.
“A lot of the girls talked about their relationships with boys and girlfriends; one day they’re friends, they next day they’ve been deserted.”
And because girls don’t always find parents easy to share their issues with, says Boak, “they have no place to express themselves, to get out some of the anger.”
After moving from Pueblo to her new job at the Kyrene district office, Boak heard about a program called Girl Power!, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
She thought it would be a perfect fit, not only for Pueblo but for the entire district. And so the program was born at nine Kyrene schools, including Sureno, Aprende, Pueblo, Manitas and del Norte, where teachers and, in one case, a parent volunteer participate with the girls in back-to-back 10-week sessions.
“We incorporate fitness, health, hygiene (into the sessions), but the real purpose is to provide a place to vent,” says Boak. “You’d be amazed at some of the decisions girls are forced to make at 13 years (old).”
Although guest speakers participate, the adults serve as facilitators rather than presenters.
“There’s no lecturing; it’s ‘what’s going on with me, what’s going on with you.’”
Not only have girls from widely differing backgrounds or interests found their way to the program, Boak says. “We have athletes, cheerleaders, bookworms, girls from every clique,” Boak says.
“By no means are they all best friends, but those who are perceived as popular and those who aren’t end up with a better understanding of each other. They realize ‘We’re all in this together.’”
Using as a guide Life Strategies for Teens, the popular book written by Jay McGraw, the 20-year-old son of a psychologist, the program introduces 10 “life laws” that can form a foundation on which to negotiate the tribulations of growing up.
The book also delves into such topics as the complexity of perceptions: how you dress, how you look.
“It addresses how appearance sends a message to whomever is watching,” Boak says. “That creates a certain perception, and perception is reality.”
The program also talks about the role of cliques.
“Cliques can be good,” says Boak, “but they can also be very divisive. If you don’t have self esteem, you can really get lost and suffer from depression because you don’t feel you’re accepted by anyone.”
Such rejection is experienced by both girls and boys, Boak emphasizes. “If you don’t have a parent or teacher, there’s no where to go (with such issues).”
Although the focus of Girl Power! is purposely singular, Boak says she’d love to launch a similar program that would involve boys, as well.
“I’d love to have some sort of coed club,” she says, “but boys aren’t really into talking about their feelings,” she says.
“If boys had a place to go, maybe we wouldn’t have the Columbines.”
Girl Power! groups meet at the schools listed from September through December and from January through May. Groups range in size from 10 to 15 girls. A $59 fee covers the program and the book.
A Girl Power Summit, featuring interactive demonstrations and exhibits of interest to girls in grades 5-8, will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16. About 300 girls attended a similar event in April. Registration fee is $10.
An invitation containing complete details has been sent home with all Kyrene girls in fifth through eighth grades.
Additional information: Katey Boak, (480) 783-4089 or kboak@kyrene.org.
