Girls today, Women tomorrow
Girls today, Women tomorrow
All around the world, children are faced with all types of conflicts. In Syria, they’re affected by the violence and lack of access to vital services such as health care, education and basic necessities; in Senegal, almost a quarter of these children are forced to work to help increase the family income; in Sri Lanka, even though the numbers have been declining, child marriage still remain a problem; In Haiti, child trafficking is almost endemic and since the 2010 earthquake, these activities have only increased. Those children may not be enjoying the same rights or conditions of life as Western children, but not all Western children actually have the opportunity to be completely excluded from these hardships. In this post, I will explain what could happen to young girls if programs like You Grow Girl did not exist.
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
Our You Grow Girl program is a pilot program that Beat the Streets Toronto is starting. It is for young girls, ages 13 - 18 who are facing social and economic barriers and focuses on developing their social and emotional skills through fitness classes and workshops. The goal of this program is to raise those young girls into confident, emotionally, and socially strong adolescents for a better chance at success.
Economically speaking, certain families don’t have the means to send their children to camp in the summer or sports club after school, therefore, they stay home to complete their given assignments and find inventive ways to utilize their time. Some families also have a single parenting structure and often, that single parent is never home because they have to work to support the family. Lastly, there is the child without a family that lives in homeless shelters, orphanages, or even on the streets. The chances of these girls ending up in harmful situations when they become older increases. They start hanging out with bad crowds, abusing alcohol and drugs, taking part in prostitution. They may drop out of school, commit petty crimes or find themselves pregnant at a young age without support, education, or employment.
Emotionally speaking, being bullied, or having experienced a traumatic event are two of the main causes that affect a young girl's emotional and mental wellbeing. As a result, these can lead to serious psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, social phobias, bipolar disorder, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and many more. Sometimes, those girls don’t have anyone to turn to for help. If they do, they’re seen as dramatic, they’re told that they’re probably “acting up” or that “it’s not even that serious”. In the long run, those psychological disorders could hinder the process of young girls becoming successful in life, whether it’s getting the job of their dreams or building their household.
That’s why programs like the You Grow Girl program are vital to our society, teaching girls how to be more confident with who they are and fight for what they want in life. In some countries, because of the constant war and corruption, young girls don’t have the opportunity to learn and stand up for themselves but here, they do.
Let’s support our girls, they are our nation’s future.