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Issues Facing Girls and Parents Today

It pays to be informed, and so on this page we list recent statistics and links to articles on the issues facing girls and parents today.

There is a culture war out there, vying for the heart and souls of adolescent girls. In her ground-breaking book "Reviving Ophelia" Mary Pipher, Ph.D labels the culture as 'girl-poisoning. We don't believe in dwelling on the negative, and at the same time we don't want to be in denial of the societal challenges confronting girls and those who love them.

Self-Esteem Loss
Research shows that by the time they reach high school, many girls lose self-esteem and self-confidence.
Evidence supports the fact that most schools are not conducive to self-esteem since the level of self-esteem declines for most students the longer they are in school.
(http://www.self-esteem-nase.org/)

Statistics from the Center for Disease Control: (www.cdc.org)

Suicide
The 3rd leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States.
The top three methods used in suicides of young people include hanging/suffocation, poisoning, and firearms. In 2004, both hanging/suffocation and poisoning suicide among 10 to 14 year old females increased, and were significantly in excess of an already upward trend in hanging/suffocation suicide rates and a downward trend in poisoning suicide rates in this age group .

Sexually Transmitted Diseases
A study released March 2008 estimates that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States - or 3.2 million teenage girls - is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus, and trichomoniasis).

Substance Abuse
Statistics available from 2002-2004 shows that girls exceeded boys as first-time marijuana smokers. In 2004 1.5 million girls began drinking, 730,000 started smoking and 675,000 began smoking marijuana

Teen Pregnancy
In 2006, 435,427 births occurred to mothers aged 15-19 years, a birth rate of 41.9 per 1,000 women in this age group. The Hispanic and non-Hispanic black teen pregnancy rates are three times higher than the white teen pregnancy rate. The teen birth rate rose between 2005 and 2006 for the first time since 1991.

Self-injury
Current research places self-injurers at about 10% of American girls practice cutting, burning, themselves, etc. These behaviors typically begin between the ages of 12-15 .

Links to Informative Articles

Media, Self-Esteem and Girls' Identities

The pressures on girls are exacerbated by the media's increasing tendency to portray very young girls in sexual ways. Over the past decade, the fashion industry has begun to use younger and younger models, and now commonly presents 12- and 13-year-old girls as if they were women.

Parent and Teen Communication

It is hardly shocking that teenage girls today suffer significant anxiety and stress, but according to a recently released poll commissioned by the cable network WE tv and conducted by Harris Interactive®, many are struggling with a much bigger issue-poor communication with their parents.

A Crisis of Confidence: Teen-age girls and the Risky Years

Teen years for girls today are a period of real danger. Girls entering puberty often face a "crisis in confidence" which makes them vulnerable to risky behavior, and these bad choices can have devastating lifelong consequences.

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