The Girl Guides have come a long way since the days of my delinquent Brownie youth, when our Tawny Owl (who had a wee bit of a problem with the bottle and a bigger one with good judgement) would send us into the forest to look for burrs while she contentedly sipped gin in the church basement...but I digress.
The Girl Guides of the UK polled a thousand girls and young women (age 7-25) involved with their organization about what they thought girls should know. The result is The Guide to Living for Modern Girls, with some interesting suggestions that point to where the priorities are for girls and young women.
Ages 16-25 want to know about:
- Money management skills (93%)
- Performing resuscitation (85%)
- Speaking confidently in public (84%)
- Practising safe sex (80%)
- Producing a first-rate resume (66%)
- Assembling flat pack furniture (55%)
Ages 10-15 listed these as their priorities:
Ages 7 -10 thought they should be versed in:
- Knowing the Green Cross Code (80%) (I'm not sure, this might be the UK version of the Brownie code)
- Safe web surfing (78%)
- Caring for a pet (75%)
First aid (75%)
Furthermore, in more applause-worthy directions, the Girl Scouts of America established the Girl Scout Research Institute in 2000, as a "center for research and public policy information on the healthy development of girls as they mature toward adulthood."
So much more than cookies! Tom Jones had it right, "women and girl (scouts) rock my world!"
(News source: UK Telegraph, July 26/07)
2 comments:
Thanks for this note on the girl guides. It sounds almost too good to be true. If it reflects girl values, then something big is really going on.
Hey Lil,
yes, it does sound like something big is going on. Strangely, I contacted Girl Guides in the UK and got a response that they had no idea what the report was that I was talking about. I am going to see if I can track down Liz Burnley, who is quoted in all the media around this as the Chief Scout to see if I can get a copy of the report myself.
In trying to find the report, I did find this out, however:
"There are 500,000 girls in the Guiding movement, with a waiting list of 50,000. The numbers have not dropped since Scouts began accepting girls.
This year the movement began the Get Wise programme to train 450 older Guides to broach sensitive subjects with younger members. It covers eating disorders, stress management, binge drinking, sexual health and bullying. Organisers concluded that Guides were in a better position to talk to their peers about these subjects than adults. " (source: Timesonline dot co dot uk)...so, that sound really interesting!
If I can track down the report, I'll post a link here...
:-)
Lisa
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