The Challenge
We are out of balance.
In America, we know how to compete and fight and win.
On the other hand, we are less comfortable accessing tools we need to collaborate, communicate, and play.
As a result of this imbalance, we are experiencing unbearable levels of disconnection, disengagement and distrust in our schools, workplaces, civic institutions, and neighborhoods.
We lack skills to bridge our differences, listen to one another, share opinions in respectful ways, empathize, and work together to solve problems.
All of our communities are suffering from a serious compassion deficit.
And this compassion deficit is taking its toll on our girls especially.
School-aged girls as young as kindergarten are participating in multiple behaviors associated with bullying and relational aggression among girls and between girls and boys.
In fact, 32% of girls ages 8-17 say that their number one concern is being teased, judged, or made fun of. And 56% of all students have witnessed a bullying crime take place
at school. Facing these forms of aggression everyday, our girls are constantly asking us "But what do I say? What should I do?" They
are rarely supported to know how to have healthy relationships in the face of difference and conflict. They lack the courage to set and assert their personal boundaries in the ways that keep them emotionally, physically, and sexually safe. They lack the
courage because they lack the opportunities to learn and practice these skills. As a result, too many of our girls and boys accept aggressive and violent words and actions as the norm in most situations. They know it doesn't feel good but they don't know
what to do about it.
And this compassion decifit is turned inward on our girls as well. The emotional life of girls is rich and complex. They often have big feelings that
they have been taught are "too dramatic" and they should just "get over it." But we know that no one "gets over" their feelings. We know from research on emotional intelligence that, when girls are unable to label,
manage and regulate feelings - especially those feelings associated with challenge and conflict - they suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders that seriously impede their development. And girls are far more likely to suffer from these disorders
than boys - twice as much by the time they reach adolescence. Anxiety manifests itself as paralyzing
perfectionism and a fear of making mistakes which erodes self-confidence and often leads to other problems such as eating disorders. And a recent study shows that anxiety causes girls brains to "overwork" which leads to burn-out and negatively
affects learning and academic success in girls.
It has been said that a society must be measured by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. When we stand by and allow our young girls to suffer violence
and self-hatred, we all suffer.
The Solution
Our bold and brave belief:
Girls are the superheroes who will lead the world in a compassion revolution.
In
Go Girls!
Camp, founded by
Lynn Johnson and
Allison Kenny, girls work together to create and perform original plays with pro-social themes expressing their feelings, ideas, and experiences. The process gives the girls space to practice social/emotional skills that will improve their lives, their
relationships, and bring their collective vision for a more compassionate community to life. Through the integration of
Kidpower®, a global leader in teaching positive, practical personal safety skills,
Go Girls! learn and practice standing up for themselves and each other in peaceful and powerful ways.
Go Girls! Camp began by chance in 2008. That summer, 17 girls – and only girls – signed up for a
Glitter & Razz theater camp in Oakland, CA. Our staff knew that their play had to celebrate being a girl. And it did.
When we asked campers if they would come back to a girls-only camp, they shouted a resounding “Yes!”
And now, in 2013, Go Girls! can’t be stopped. This summer we served more than 200 California girls in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz. We often hear, “This is THE BEST camp I have
been to in my whole life!”
And Go Girls! works. Since 2011,
Go Girls! has been a key player in
building a compassionate school climate at Glenview Elementary, a public school based in Oakland. Over 300 Glenview girls have taken on an “I am a Go Girl!” identity through participation in friendship circles, afterschool programs, drop-in lunchtime
groups, day-long retreats, and classroom presentations. They are proud compassion leaders, saying they value “teaching other kids what we’ve learned.” Girls run up to us with stories of how they have integrated the skills into real-life situations.
One parent told us, “Even though my daughter hasn’t directly participated in your programs, I can tell you are making a difference. She used to come home crying everyday last year because of friendship
drama and, this year, she comes home happy.”
Rooted in best practice in youth development, arts education, and drama and expressive arts therapies,
Go Girls! Camp was recognized in 2011 by Ashoka Changemakers as a key social innovation to activate empathy in public schools. We
were chosen as 1 of 15 finalists from over 600 entries all over the world.
And we've started to spread our message in new ways, too: In March 2013, co-founder Allison Kenny wrote and published Starring
Celia, a chapter book set against the backdrop of Go Girls! Camp about
a 4th grader who experiences painful name-calling – and responds
by slapping the girl who bullied her. But when Celia enrolls in a Go Girls! Camp, she learns to stand up for herself in peaceful and powerful ways. Eventually, she even starts opening her heart to the girl who targeted her.
