Teen Girl Self-Esteem: After School and Your Daughter

Yes, schools are opening throughout our country and another academic year with the normal peer pressure and stress of being a teenager.

What are you doing after school? Many girls will be hitting a transitional point in their lives in a few weeks. Some will attend new schools, some will be away from home for the first time and others could be leaving their summer loves….

Although women have made gains in education and employment in the equal rights war, they’re still losing the self-esteem war. Girls’ self-esteem peaks when they are about 9 years old, and then takes a nosedive. Although the media, peers, and pop culture influence children, parents still hold more sway than they think when it comes to having an impact on a daughter’s developing self-esteem.

Girls are faced with an onslaught of influences daily- most of them not the ones we’d like. In fact, a national survey of girls’ use of social media released by Girl Scouts of the USA (Who’s That Girl: Self Image in the 21st Century, 2010) finds that girls with low self-esteem are more likely to be susceptible to negative experiences on social networking sites than are girls with high self-esteem.

As parents and mentors, we want to help our daughters develop a strong sense of self, learn about the benefits of a balanced diet and physical activity, develop healthy relationships, promote confidence and well-being among While having fun.

Wondering how to enhance your daughter’s school year? The Girl Scouts’ flourishing new leadership program Journeys is at the core of the nearly 100-year-old organization’s transformation and a key benefit of this latest offering is building a strong sense of self. Building self-esteem does not happen overnight, but research shows that one way to accomplish this is through the development of leadership skills and competencies.

For more information go to www.girscouts.org!

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Sue Scheff: United Nations Foundation introduces Girl UP

June 2010 marks another historic moment with the launching of a new global United Nations Foundation (UNF) campaign: Girl UP.

What is Girl UP?


Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation, gives American girls the opportunity to channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for programs of the United Nations that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. Through Girl Up’s support, girls have the opportunity to become educated, healthy, safe, counted and positioned to be the next generation of leaders. Campaign supporters are encouraged to give a “High Five” to girls in developing countries by donating $5 or more to provide girls with such basic needs as access to school supplies, clean water, life-saving health services, safety from violence and more. To give a High Five and learn more, join us at GirlUp.org.

Adolescent girls have tremendous potential to be strong, bright, and curious leaders, sports stars, prime ministers — you name it. But adolescent girls in developing countries face a number of challenges that can make it difficult to fulfill their aspirations. Join Girl Up and you can help girls globally live their dreams.
Girl UP Facebook Group, is over 1000 voices and growing strong.  Join today! Don't forget to follow them on Twitter too.

With today's strained economy, people out of work, stress in many homes combined with families losing their homes, we need to build hope and give help to the many kids that will be our future.
The world's adolescent girls are tomorrow's dreams.  Be a part of making a difference, be part of GirlUp today.

Watch video introduction. 

Read more.

Sue Scheff: Teen Girls and Sports

Keeping your kids busy in a constructive way can help prevent them from getting into trouble. Encouraging your kids to play sports, enroll in dance classes, join a club or other activities can not only help their self-esteem, it can help with their social skills.

Daughters may be more hesitant to play sports for a variety of reasons, one of which could be embarrassment that they are not good enough.

What if there were a way to decrease the chances of your teenage daughter becoming pregnant, as well as avoiding a host of other behaviors that have serious risks? According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, involvement in sports may be the key. - Connect with Kids

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that sports participation and exercise are positive alternatives to risk-taking for girls. Playing sports gives young females independence, status with peers, a chance to make friends, relaxation, weight control and more. According to the CDC, girls who play sports learn the following life skills:

• Teamwork
• Goal-setting
• The experience of success
• The pursuit of excellence in performance
• How to deal with failures

As a parent, how can you encourage your teen - male or female - to participate in sports? The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity offers the following advice for keeping your teen interested in sporting activities:

• Actively support your teens involvement in physical activity. Buy your teen good equipment, watch his or her games and consider volunteering as a coach.
• Take your teen to the park and be active with him or her. Help your teen learn the fundamental skills of running, throwing, catching and kicking.
• Be an active role model yourself. Mothers who participate in sports increase their child's participation rate by 22%. Fathers increase that rate by 11%.
• Emphasize fun and fitness rather than competition and slimness. Encourage your teen to try a variety of new activities, and help him or her acquire the skills and equipment needed for participation. Consistently offer praise and support to your teen.
• Introduce your teen to active male and female athletes. Buy sports books about successful male and female athletes. Watch sporting events on television and attend competitions in your community.

Reference: Connect with Kids

Be an educated parent, you will have healthier and safer teens.
Read more on Examiner.

Sue Scheff: Parenting Girls - Tween Girl Summit 2009

The first ever Tween Girl Summit brought to you by AK Tweens and AllyKatzz.com.

On October 10, 2009, hundreds of tween girls ages 9 to 14 from across the nation, as well as parents, experts, politicians and celebrities, will descend upon the historic Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington DC for the First Ever National Tween Girl Summit.

At the Summit, girls will talk about their passions, challenges, values, goals, heroes, dreams, fears, tween girl power, community activism and what they are going to do to change their world. We want the President and the First Lady to know that girls have heard their call for community activism and they’re ready to change the world!

Everything is here: Everything you need to know about the Tween Summit is on this site. Please check back often for updates on speakers, sponsors and celebs who will be joining us!
Summit Online: Can’t attend the Summit on October 10th? We’ll be live blogging on Allykatzz.com so everyone can be a part of The First Ever Tween Girl Summit.

The 2009 Summit Research Report: From the Tween Summit observation deck, we will obtain insights from 300 tween girls attending the event, as well as gathering data from thousands of AllyKatzz members streaming the experience online. Learn more.
The Tween Summit Agenda - PDF available.

For more information email tweensummit@allykatzz.com and visit http://www.tweensummit.com/.

Also read on Examiner.com

Sue Scheff: The Daughter Becomes The Teacher

By Dara Chadwick

Is there anything that strikes as much fear into the hearts of mothers of teenage girls as clothes shopping? It's such a loaded, slippery activity -- essentially, a minefield of opportunities to mess up your daughter's self-esteem forever.

Or at least it feels that way sometimes.

Maybe it's not that dramatic, but it's still intimidating to me -- and to a lot of moms I know. As I wrote in You'd Be So Pretty If..., shopping trips with my mom were often filled with "helpful" comments about what would look good on my figure. My mother meant well, for sure, but her own wardrobe was all about camouflaging what she felt were her flaws and frankly, she taught me to do the same. Choosing clothes was always about hiding the worst of me rather than accentuating the best of me.

It's been a very tough habit to break for myself. But I'm working hard to change that attitude in my daughter.

During a trip to the mall this weekend, we came upon a fabulous clearance sale. She needs new clothes for school, so I encouraged her to search the racks and try on anything she remotely liked. We left with an armful of clothes that look great on her -- at an exceptionally good price, I might add -- but more important than my savings was the fact that she loves these clothes so much, she couldn't wait to wear them. A new cheetah-print tank top, which we agreed would look lovely under a red sweater for school, was worn to yesterday's beach party.

This morning she told me, "I just love my cheetah shirt. I'm going to wear it again today." And I wondered: When was the last time I loved a piece of clothing so much that I didn't want to take it off?

I'm thrilled that my conscious effort to change my behavior is affecting my daughter this way -- that she's choosing clothes she feels she looks great in, instead of picking things that hide what she feels are her flaws. When you think about it, it's a fairly monumental shift in attitude.

The real beauty of all this, though, is that she's inspired me. I could use some new clothes, so when I head out to the store, my mission is this: To find only clothes that I love, that make me feel great about the body I have today.

And to never try to hide again.

Visit Dara's website at http://www.darachadwick.com/ and check out her book!