As many of you know, my friend and business partner, Jennifer Caliman and I, are making it our mission to help build strong and self confident young girls with our new Sporty Sprouts program. We spend a lot of time these days looking into the issues our girls are facing. Sadly, bullying makes the top of the list! Did you know that according to a survey done by Discovery Girls (a magazine for girls 8+) that 76% of girls have been bullied? I don't know about you, but being the mother of two young daughters, that statistic is frightening!
The article goes on to say, that girls are most worried they'll get picked on for one of the following:
30% - Feel they're not pretty enough
17% - Feel they're not popular enough
15% - Feel they're not talented enough
14% - Feel they're not smart enough
24% - Are being bullied for other reasons
If your daughter is being bullied, or has been a witness of someone being bullied, here are a few suggestions they had:
1. Keep her eyes open for anyone who is a target of other people's meanness. Encourage your daughter to do something to help that child feel less alone.
2. Encourage your child to refuse to join in, or stand by quietly, if someone is being treated badly. She can choose to be strong and say that what is happening is not okay, or she can even just walk away. Sometimes just walking away is enough!
3. Your daughter can break the unspoken code of silence among kids at her school. Encourage your daughter to not ignore what is going on. Have her tell a teacher or counselor she trusts.
When these girls were asked who the people were that raised their self confidence, you will be happy to know that parents, teachers/coaches and close friends were who they chose! This is the role that we hope to play for your daughter while she is enrolled in the Sporty Sprouts program. We are going to tackle many of these issues facing our girls today and give them the tools to handle these difficult situations. Not only will we be building strong girls from the inside, but we are going to work on the outside too!
Sporty Sprouts is a 12 week program in which we will meet 2x's/week for 2hrs each day. We will spend 1hr on our curriculum, followed by 1hr of games and training for our 5k run. Our program will focus on: Self Confidence, Community, Team Support, Discovering Goals & Dreams, Global & Personal Health Awareness, Developing Strength & Endurance. At the end of the program, each young girl will have the opportunity to use the skills that she has learned and support her teammates as we cross the finish line in an organized 5k event.
If you have questions about our program or would like more information, please contact us at
sportysprouts@comcast.net or find us on facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Gig-Harbor-WA/Sporty-Sprouts/111142625615039
In Good Health,
Gwen Gilliam
Sporty Sprouts
Gig Harbor, WA
