Girl Power
Diversifying Our Membership
By Elaina Ouimet

`The dictionary defines empowerment as “the promotion of self-actualization.” It is a strong word that is an essential part of reaching out to girls. Clubs recognize that girls start out bright, bold and beautiful. They speak freely and participate fully in every aspect of life. However, as girls begin their journey through adolescence, Clubs often see them lose themselves in confusion and peer pressure. Knowing this, Boys & Girls Clubs of America is committed to empower girls to have healthy interpersonal relationships within the Club and their lives.

The Join the Club! Girls campaign supports recruitment efforts aimed at young women. It is a component of the Join the Club! initiative, a multi-faceted recruitment strategy targeting teens, Latino youth, girls and tweens (young people ages 11-13). Clubs are using Join the Club! Girls as a part of their recruitment and retention efforts – and seeing tremendous results.

Realizing it had a low number of girls in membership, Boys & Girls Clubs of Pawtucket, R.I., developed a long-term strategy of inclusion. The Club started by hiring a balanced number of male and female staff members, and providing all staff with training on female adolescent development. It also sent outreach professionals into the community to educate parents about the Club and assure them it was a safe environment for their daughters. Additionally, Club staff created girls-only activity time. And by holding a career day with professional women, the Club provided 250 middle school girls with an introduction to the Club experience.

Encouraging News
Like Boys & Girls Clubs of Pawtucket, many organizations struggle with recruiting and actively engaging girl members in Club activities. However, there is good news. Clubs are experiencing steady growth in services they provide to young women. Fifteen years ago, girls accounted for just 27 percent of total membership; today, 43 percent of Club members are girls.

Nationwide, girls continue to make impressive strides. Girls now earn 57 percent of all bachelor’s degrees and more girls than boys are enrolled in high school advanced-placement classes. Girls have also dramatically increased their presence in sports during the last 30 years. In 1970, only 1 in 27 high school girls played varsity sports. Today, that figure is 1 in 2.5. Nationwide, teen birth rates have decreased by 30 percent. However, there is still a long way to go. While girls are gaining ground in key areas, there are still important indicators that girls need the support of Boys & Girls Clubs, now more than ever.

Getting Girls Involved
Tricia Crossman, director of delinquency prevention for BGCA and former teen director at The Children’s Aid Society’s East Harlem Boys & Girls Club in N.Y., recognized that girls in her Club were under-represented, and lacked activities that addressed their strengths, interests and needs.

Knowing that girls participate more fully in Club activities if they are included in the planning process, the East Harlem Club conducted focus groups with female members, and female staff began spending time in male-dominated program areas. “In the gamesroom, I started playing pool with the boys each night,” notes Crossman. “At first the boys made fun of me because I was a girl playing pool, but when I started to beat them, they began to respect my ability.”

As a result of such efforts, the Club experienced an increased number of registered female members and participation of girls in Club activities. “Girls showed more assertiveness with their peers and adults. More girls were taking leadership roles with their peers of both genders and inviting their female friends to join,” says Crossman. “Girls clearly began to feel more empowered once we created an environment where their voice and presence were important.”

In addition to the Join the Club! Girls campaign,  a revised edition of Opening Doors: Outreach and Program Strategies for Girls, a comprehensive  resource compiling strategies from the last 15 years
of girls programming, will be mailed to Clubs this spring. BGCA hopes that it will become a valuable  tool for deepening the impact of service to girls
within the Movement.

Remaining Challenges
While there are areas in which girls are excelling statistically, areas of continued struggle remain. Girls are smoking more often and at a younger age, are twice as likely as boys to be depressed, and are often victims of violence. They feel pressure to attain the unrealistic image of beauty defined by the media, which contributes to low self-esteem and unhealthy dieting. The opportunity for physical activity provided by Clubs is critical; today 1 in 6 girls is obese or overweight compared to one in 21 in 1970. Like all young people, girls seek a place where they can be themselves. Boys & Girls Clubs are uniquely equipped to provide the safe space, female role models and leadership opportunities that empower girls to overcome today’s challenges.

Elaina Ouimet is assistant director of teen services for BGCA.