I saw that one of the people I follow had tweeted, “Ah, crap” and then posted a picture.  Needless to say, I was intrigued, so I clicked on it.  What I proceeded to view [...]]]> A few minutes ago I was scrolling through my Twitter feed (as I often do while I am procrastinating *ahem* doing research).

I saw that one of the people I follow had tweeted, “Ah, crap” and then posted a picture.  Needless to say, I was intrigued, so I clicked on it.  What I proceeded to view were the worst 8 letters you could possibly be left with in a game of Scrabble – lots of Es, Is and even an X! 

Now, you may be wondering – why I am sharing this with you?  I’m doing so because I feel like this woman has given me the best, most succinct way to describe what is going on with social media and sharing.  Who of us hasn’t been left with the worst letters in a Scrabble game (or been dealt *bad cards* in the literal or figurative sense)?  And yet, would we ever have thought to share this fact with at least 1,857 other people at once (yes, that is the number of her followers)?  But this is where we are – the technology exists for us to mass communicate our shared experiences (that we might never have consciously thought of as shared) and actually share them with others in real-time.

This woman’s tweet somehow spoke volumes to me about the complex concept of shared experiences and actual sharing, and how we make choices about how we represent ourselves and our lives to others – those we know personally and those we don’t.

How do you make decisions about what you share with others – online and off?

Fact #1: I used to be fat.  Not obese – just fat.  Boys wouldn’t ask me to dance at the school dances, I borrowed my mom’s baggy clothes and I tried to get my hair as poufy as possible because I thought, somehow, that [...]]]> The following is a post contributed by our guest blogger, Tracey DeLong.

Fact #1: I used to be fat.  Not obese – just fat.  Boys wouldn’t ask me to dance at the school dances, I borrowed my mom’s baggy clothes and I tried to get my hair as poufy as possible because I thought, somehow, that would balance out the rest of my body. 

Fact #2: I used to be unhealthy.  Not terminally ill – just unhealthy.  I ate mayonnaise sandwiches, always went back for seconds and didn’t really care about the Food Pyramid. 

Facts #1 and 2 are unquestionably related.  But when I was younger, I didn’t care about fact #2 – I was more concerned with fact #1.  So I tried the usual fad diets and even made it to the gym a few times.  But nothing really stuck until I started taking group fitness classes with a friend.  It wasn’t particularly fun at first – I felt out of place and like everyone was staring at me.  But something amazing happened after just a couple of short weeks – I felt GOOD!! I didn’t experience some miraculous physical transformation.  No – this was even better.  I experienced something on the inside – something that made me feel powerful, in control. 

I had always heard that “exercise is good for you” but I never really understood why (Google something like “how does exercise make you feel good” and you can read up on endorphins, adrenaline, etc).  And honestly, if anyone had cared to explain why, I probably wouldn’t have cared or it wouldn’t have sunk in.  It was just something I had to experience for myself.  So I encourage you to do the same – EXPERIENCE something!! 

The beautiful thing about exercise is that you can do it just about anywhere for any length of time – at home for 30 minutes, in the great outdoors for 2 hours, at a gym for 60 minutes, at the local park for 10 minutes…the list goes on and on.  Just get moving!!  It’s great to have a goal but sometimes, when we don’t have that instant gratification, we lose confidence in our ability to achieve it.  Let how you look take a back seat to how you feel.  Because the feeling you get from working out is instant gratification.  You will immediately feel more in control of who you are – and who doesn’t want to feel more of that??

So if I used to be fat and I used to unhealthy, what am I now??  I am not the fittest person, nor am I the healthiest.  But I have found a balance that works for me…and that makes all the difference. 

What’s your balance?

Tracey DeLong, BA, CLC is a multi-certified group fitness instructor at the award-winning Gold’s Gym – West Cobb in Atlanta, GA.  She has also taken health and wellness education to the most basic level by teaching new moms and babies how to breastfeed as the Lead Breastfeeding Peer Counselor for Cobb & Douglas Public Health.  Through her passions of health, fitness and breastfeeding support, Tracey hopes to inspire a new generation to be their best “me”!!

Inspiration is contagious in the best possible way.  When you meet someone who inspires you or read something that resonates with your goals and ambitions, it creates a domino effect.  You then take the energy and passion that accompany inspiration and translate them into action items – big or small.  Maybe you will finally [...]]]> By: Alison

Inspiration is contagious in the best possible way.  When you meet someone who inspires you or read something that resonates with your goals and ambitions, it creates a domino effect.  You then take the energy and passion that accompany inspiration and translate them into action items – big or small.  Maybe you will finally reach out to that organization to volunteer your time?  Or perhaps you will start brainstorming ideas for the business that you have always wanted to do?  How about reaching out to members of your community to make new relationships?  The sky is truly the limit when you are inspired.

As I continue to work with amazing people on exciting projects that I believe can and will make a difference in our world, I think about the opportunity and obligation we have to connect with and inspire one another.      

What or who inspires you?  How can you take what you have learned from these people or situations and inspire others?

Cyber-bullying is peer abuse perpetrated through digital media.  This cruelty delivered via signals, routers and machines is not caused by the technology, however, but is the result of our behavior and actions.  We are all responsible for carefully and thoughtfully navigating the social and interpersonal aspects of our online interactions, and helping educate our [...]]]> By: Alison

Cyber-bullying is peer abuse perpetrated through digital media.  This cruelty delivered via signals, routers and machines is not caused by the technology, however, but is the result of our behavior and actions.  We are all responsible for carefully and thoughtfully navigating the social and interpersonal aspects of our online interactions, and helping educate our friends and family to do the same.

Have you ever heard of The Butterfly Effect?  The Butterfly Effect teaches us that the world will live in is so interdependent, even the tiny change in atmosphere generated by the flap of a butterfly’s wings has the capacity to impact entire weather systems across the planet.  As inhabitants of this planet, all of our individual, local actions can have collective, global impact – for better or worse.

This concept is of the utmost importance when we think about the kinds of things we post and share online.  Every time you write, post, or send anything digitally, it impacts people’s impression of you, which then affects your group of friends, your school, and the larger digital communities of which you are a part.  This “digital footprint” can help or hurt your reputation, friendships, and opportunities.  It can also enable authorities to discover where every piece of information on the Internet came from and who wrote/posted it. Once you hit “send,” those messages, thoughts and feelings are out there forever, for everyone to see.

Read more of Alison’s post about managing your digital footprint at http://www.radicalparenting.com/2011/05/29/managing-your-digital-footprint/

Have you noticed the gender stereotyping that often accompanies Internet safety messages?  Somehow, in the interest of keeping kids safe online and teaching them about respect, responsibility and dignity in their digital communication, every single outdated and offensive stereotype about girls and young women gets used.  There’s almost always the gossiping mean-girl persona, whose [...]]]> By: Alison

Have you noticed the gender stereotyping that often accompanies Internet safety messages?  Somehow, in the interest of keeping kids safe online and teaching them about respect, responsibility and dignity in their digital communication, every single outdated and offensive stereotype about girls and young women gets used.  There’s almost always the gossiping mean-girl persona, whose minions cackle deviously after hatching and implementing diabolical plans.  Then there is the competition and/or jealousy over a guy that is portrayed as the “cause” of the online abuse, followed by comments about the body shape or size of the target and her perceived sexual exploits.

As someone who has worked with girls her entire career and happens to be a girl herself, I am really tired of these messages that are offensive, one-dimensional and lacking in any sort of educational or prevention-message value.  Where are the resources, PSAs and videos that serve as learning tools about the varied roles girls actually play in these situations?

I’m happy to report that I have found one such resource – the Adina’s Deck series!!!  Adina’s Deck is an award-winning DVD series about the fictional detective club, “Adina’s Deck” – a group of (female) friends who help solve challenges in their lives and at their school.  The protagonists in these films are smart, computer-savvy, kind, thoughtful, and articulate — meaning, they are like real girls!!!!

There are three films in the series:

Episode 1: Skye’s Cyber Bullying Mystery

Adina’s Deck works together to figure out who’s been cyber bullying Skye, the most popular girl in the 8th grade.

 Episode 2: The Case of the Online Crush

Adina’s Deck learns of a mysterious problem with a potential online predator.

Episode 3: The Case of the Plagiarized Paper

In this classic “who-done-it,” Adina’s Deck tries to figure out who plagiarized their paper in Mr. B’s class.

Be sure to log on to adinasdeck.com to learn more and purchase the films.  Use code CI4G when you check out to help support our work at Critical Issues for Girls.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I want to discuss the ever-popular issue of girls’ clothing.  Recently, several opinion pieces have appeared shaming young girls and their parents for choices that were *too* sexy, including the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the response piece from Jezebel.com.

The American Psychological Association Task Force report on the Sexualization [...]]]> By: Rebekah

In honor of Mother’s Day, I want to discuss the ever-popular issue of girls’ clothing.  Recently, several opinion pieces have appeared shaming young girls and their parents for choices that were *too* sexy, including the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the response piece from Jezebel.com.

The American Psychological Association Task Force report on the Sexualization of Girls defines sexualization as any instance when:

• a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics;
• a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness (narrowly defined) with being sexy;
• a person is sexually objectified—that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making; and/or
• sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person.

Of particular interest to our conversation today, the report states that parents can contribute to the sexualization of their daughters by, “convey[ing] the message that maintaining an attractive physical appearance is the most important goal for girls.” When “girls purchase (or ask their parents to purchase) products and clothes designed to make them look physically appealing and sexy, and if they style their identities after the sexy celebrities who populate their cultural landscape, they are, in effect, sexualizing themselves.”

This research shows that girls (and women of all ages) are bombarded with these messages about being sexy.  But whose responsibility is it to make these choices for our young girls and to educate them about the media’s impact on their well-being?

Everyone I interviewed had strong opinions on this:

Jennifer, a mother of two boys ages 14 and 16 uses this philosophy with her children. “Although I wish the media and our society took more responsibility about issues such as this, the reality is that they do not, and probably never will.  As a parent, I make my decisions based on what is going to make my son a better adult, not a happier kid.”

Faith, mother of a six-month-old girl, writes, “It takes a village to raise a child. Children are influenced by many outside sources, such as friends, friends’ parents, educators, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and a whole slew of others with whom they have relationships.  But, (and this is a very important but), parents are the most consistent figures in their children’s lives and thus hold the majority of the responsibility over the choices their children make in clothing.”

Katy, whose daughter is one year old, believes we must “show [our children] love in a peaceful home environment and teach them that self worth is not found from outward appearances- but from the heart.  It all goes back to how parents are teaching, raising and monitoring their children in a lost world.”

This issue frustrates Christy, with two daughters ages 8 and 15 and two sons 6 and 17.  “I am very strict on what my girls wear. I believe it is my responsibility as a mother to protect my girls. If I dress them in clothing that is revealing, tight, low cut, etc. I am telling boys/men to look at them. If you dress a child in a sexual manner, that is what people are going to see them as, sex objects.”

This advice sounds great in theory, but let’s add a different perspective.

Maggie’s work includes educating high school students about this very topic.  She says, “part of the responsibility lies with consumers.  If people purchase items, companies will make more of them.  If people purchase sexy attire for children, more sexy attire will be produced to meet that demand.  However, I do NOT think it is only on parents.  If companies see that their sexy products are selling well to the 20-30 year old group, then the companies are likely to try to sell the sexy products to other age groups as well.  When all consumers see a product marketed inappropriately (i.e. alcohol and cigarettes with a cartoon), then consumers must be vocal.  If companies get enough pushback, they will take things off of the market.  However, I think that the parents not buying + consumers giving push back is much easier said than done. It involves actually noticing that ads are hyper-sexualized (and at this point, we are all a bit numbed to this).” 

So who shoulders the blame and the responsibility and the accountability for the impact sexualization has on us all?  I must agree with Joshua, not yet a parent (but a very bright man and a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh,) when he says, “Ultimately does it fall on the parents?  Sure, I don’t think I could argue against that, but also I think it falls on us.  To not typecast, or better yet to not outcast girls in our society who decide to dress however they want to dress, and for grown men to have some sense.  I hear it all the time in class when people from the “burbs” want to blame the parents or the schools for this and yet have no clue that the parents are 16-year-olds or grandma.”

Clearly it’s a little more complicated and opinions differ.  So as we celebrate the love and joy our mothers, daughters and women everywhere bring to our lives, let’s also cut them a little slack.  These pressures are strong and affect and impact us all.

**Disclaimer: I am not a mother so my perspective on this issue is purely theoretical.  I enlisted the help of mothers and fathers in a *highly scientific* manner (i.e. Facebook and e-mail), and my sample definitely lacks diversity.  Ideally I would love feedback from many people with different backgrounds.

CI4G is proud to announce a new book about bullying, cyberbullying and peer abuse called Face 2 Face!  Face 2 Face is the second in a unique series of books written and illustrated by youth in which CI4G’s Founder & Managing Partner, Alison Trachtman Hill is an expert contributor providing ideas, strategies and advice [...]]]> By: Alison

CI4G is proud to announce a new book about bullying, cyberbullying and peer abuse called Face 2 Face!  Face 2 Face is the second in a unique series of books written and illustrated by youth in which CI4G’s Founder & Managing Partner, Alison Trachtman Hill is an expert contributor providing ideas, strategies and advice to youth and adults about these issues.

We love this book for the opportunity it creates to inspire youth to write and draw and become authors and illustrators, and for the way in which it provides resources, talking points and strategies for youth and adults to work together on issues of violence and abuse.

Please support our work with the purchase of a book.  Face 2 Face can be purchased from the publisher (code: CI4G) or on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

In October 2010, Critical Issues for Girls (www.ci4g.com) held a Take Action, Advocacy, Leadership One-Day Conference for the sophomores, juniors and seniors participating in the service-learning homeroom program at The Mary Louis Academy (www.tmla.org).  Alison Trachtman Hill, Founder and Managing Partner of Critical Issues for Girls made the keynote address for the event, which [...]]]> By: Alison

In October 2010, Critical Issues for Girls (www.ci4g.com) held a Take Action, Advocacy, Leadership One-Day Conference for the sophomores, juniors and seniors participating in the service-learning homeroom program at The Mary Louis Academy (www.tmla.org).  Alison Trachtman Hill, Founder and Managing Partner of Critical Issues for Girls made the keynote address for the event, which focused on safety, responsibility, respect, and reputation management within online and offline communities.  She provided the students with ideas and strategies to create youth-led change in their community and created a “Take Action Plan” template for them to use within their service-learning teams.

After this event, the young women of The Mary Louis Academy began a campaign to end digital abuse and create a culture of inclusivity, dignity and love within their school community.  Various students wrote articles about these topics for the school newspaper and decided on Gandhi’s quite, “My Life is My Message” as their rallying cry.  To this famous quote they added their own twist, “Make Yours a Message that Matters.”

On May 6, 2011, The Mary Louis Academy will host a student-developed and student-led program called Delete Day.  During Delete Day, students who would like to participate will come to a designated room during their lunch or unscheduled period where service homeroom students will be there to help them:

• Delete Formspring pages
• Delete inappropriate pictures or comments from their Facebook pages
• Delete “friends” who are unknown
• Delete personal information that is dangerous
• Delete groups that may be hurtful or offensive
• Create an email address that is appropriate for formal correspondence

Click here for the PowerPoint for Delete Day created by the students at The Mary Louis Academy.

According to student organizers, the purpose of this event is, “To offer members of the Mary Louis community the opportunity to delete pictures, information, or other content from the internet that may prove hurtful, offensive, or dangerous.”  Their motto for this event is, “IT IS TIME TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. IT IS TIME TO TAKE ACTION. IT IS TIME TO DELETE!”

For more information, please contact Alison Trachtman Hill at 212.696.0031 or hill@ci4g.com.

The first Earth Day occurred on April 22, 1970 during the heart of Vietnam war protests and eight years after the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, a New York Time’s best seller often thought to have launched the first environmental movement.  When Gaylord Nelson, then a Wisconsin Senator, visited the 1969 oil [...]]]> By: Rebekah

The first Earth Day occurred on April 22, 1970 during the heart of Vietnam war protests and eight years after the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, a New York Time’s best seller often thought to have launched the first environmental movement.  When Gaylord Nelson, then a Wisconsin Senator, visited the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, he was inspired to do something.  He proposed a day of coordinated “teach-ins” similar to those used by student war protestors, where groups of vested people could, in Nelson’s words, “celebrate the day in any way they want.”  Could he have imagined that millions of Americans would join the cause, with events large and small all across the country?

Here we are forty years later, still committed to a day of service where we celebrate our environment.  What does Earth Day mean to Critical Issues for Girls?  Most importantly Earth Day serves as an excellent opportunity for girls to demonstrate their leadership, service-learning and project management skills.

How girls can get involved:

Visit Earth Day’s website and pledge any Act of Green, allowing space for creativity and originality.

Host a Second Chance Toys drive in your community and help two causes at once!

Participate in the Catalog Canceling Challenge with your school or local organization.

Order a tree kit and work with your community leaders to plant them around your town or city.

Think outside the box!  Earth Day is about protecting endangered animals and plants, getting citizens involved, and improving the lives of community members.  That big, beautiful blue sky above is the limit.  As Former Senator Nelson said, “The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all living creatures.” 

Most importantly, don’t limit your environmental acts to one day!  Instead use April 22 as a day to celebrate all the amazing things you do every day to help protect our beloved planet.

The national initiative for global girls issues is certainly not a new one, but lately it seems to be growing in impact and visibility. Campaigns like the Girl Effect and Girl Up focus specifically on improving the health and education of adolescent girls in developing countries across the world, in turn improving everyone’s safety [...]]]> By: Rebekah

The national initiative for global girls issues is certainly not a new one, but lately it seems to be growing in impact and visibility. Campaigns like the Girl Effect and Girl Up focus specifically on improving the health and education of adolescent girls in developing countries across the world, in turn improving everyone’s safety and health.  I particularly love the Girl Up model because it works to mobilize teen girls in the United States to impact this issue.

While we understand the benefits for adolescent girls in the developing world, less attention has been paid to the healthy and educational benefits of girls in the United States, who serve as the backbone of this movement.  Let’s look at some relevant research:

1. Research shows that young people who participate in extracurricular activities (defined as a structured activity that takes place outside of school, where groups work toward a pro-social goal) have better grades, score better on standardized tests, and have higher self concepts.

2. A study from Corporation for National & Community Service  produced a report that looks at the research behind health benefits of volunteering.  “Evidence suggests that volunteering has a positive effect on social psychological factors, such as one’s sense of purpose. In turn, positive social psychological factors are correlated with lower risks of poor physical health.”  While this particular study focuses on older Americans, one of the conclusions that “state policies designed to increase volunteering may serve to enhance the mental and physical well-being of the state’s residents,” could have far-reaching effects on younger citizens as well.

3. Lastly, recent youth engagement research shows that when young people are involved in the decisions that affect their communities, they are better connected to their communities, they develop a sense of civic responsibility, and they “experience a sense of mastery and self-efficacy.”  With the dissemination of recent technologies that have drastically improved the visibility of others around the world, it’s not much of a stretch to add global to the concept of community.  

Of course these findings probably don’t surprise those of us who work with young people, or those of us who volunteer in our communities.   As this initiative grows, I hope to see more research dedicated specifically to the health and education benefits for the young people involved, as they lay the groundwork for real social and global change.

If your group or a group you know is looking for a project, either of these campaigns is a great place to begin.  Both offer mobilization kits found here and here, allowing youth to take a meaningful lead with meaningful results.