No, I am not talking about the Public Enemy song with the same title. Unfortunately, I am talking about my visit with the 7th and 8th grade girls of Blaine Elementary School in the Strawberry Mansion section of North Philadelphia.
http://www.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/blaine/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Mansion,_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania
Yesterday I met with about 30 girls to have them answer some questions that will serve as background information for establishing the curriculum of our Girls Empowerment Program. http://www.universalhopeinitiative.org/projects/education/. As part of my first UHI News & Notes I’d like to share some of their answers with you below:
When asked what they thought was the worst thing about their neighborhood, an overwhelming majority of the girls gave answers like, “the violence”, “shootings”, and “killings” with “drug dealers” and “trash everywhere” coming in second and third.
When asked what they would change about the world, a common answer was, “the violence” or “no more guns in the United States.”
None of the girls’ parents graduated from college with many parents not graduating high school. Good news is almost all of the girls hope to go to college. However, most thought that having a baby would not make going to college more difficult.
Interestingly, a large number of the girls, when asked if they could change anything about themselves, what would they change, had answers like, “my attitude”, “my temper”, and “the way I act”.
Lastly, when asked what they would like to learn more about, the answer most given was SEX.
In meeting with the girls, I really tried to relate to them. I am a female, I was in middle school once, I was the girl who was horribly bullied and then herself turned into the ultimate “mean girl”… a bully of such grand proportion it pains me to think about it. I understand what they are going through, right?
Not really. Shootings, killings, and drug dealers were not part of my adolescent world. I grew up in a working class neighborhood in the south eastern suburbs of Philadelphia. The most distressing answer I could have come up with regarding the worst thing about my neighborhood would have been that we weren’t allowed to loiter in front of the 7-Eleven.
UHI’s Girls Empowerment Program will strive to take these girls out of their current situation if only for a brief moment, teach them that they have the potential to fulfill their dreams, they can channel their attitudes and energy into something positive, they have a voice that should be heard, and that they can be agents of social change in their neighborhood and in the world. I hope you will keep reading our updates as we set out on this mission.
Our next step is setting up our 10-week curriculum and preparing for our meeting with parents on April 16th. Wish us luck!
Holly
