Adults like to reminisce about being teens.  We get all nostalgic about high school and social events and old classmates.  And then we shake ourselves out of our nostalgic day dreams and promise current teenagers that, as hard as those transformative years are, they’ll be adults soon enough. That promise of teen age survival was the beginning of a conversation earlier this week that was presented by Crittenton Services of Greater Washington, a Washington Area Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner.  Part of Crittenton’s “Talk With a Teen Girl Today” campaign, the dialogue featured young women from Montgomery County high schools who were discussing the results of a recent survey.

NBC4’s Pat Lawson Muse moderated the conversation and opened it up by telling the young panelists, “good news: you’ll survive your teens.”  It was a reassuring note to start on, but the more I listened to the young women speak, the more I got the impression that they wanted to do more than simply survive being teens; they seemed to view their high school years as an opportunity to build a solid foundation to become thriving adults.

About the Survey

The survey participants (all between the ages of 13 and 19) were given 15 topics and were asked to rate them as being a “very big problem,” “somewhat of a problem,” “not much of a problem,” and “not a problem at all.”  Here are the topics in the order of most problematic to least problematic based on the survey results:

1. Not being able to eat healthy at school
2. Fights among young people
3. Getting pregnant before graduating from high school
4. Not being listened to by adults at home
5. Being considered unattractive unless you look like a supermodel
6. Being thought of as a sexual object
7. Not being valued by adults
8. Teachers not caring about you
9. Getting Sexually Transmitted Infections or HIV
10. Not having anyone to care what happens to you
11. Being labeled or put down because of your race/ethnicity or color
12. Teen dating violence
12. Being frightened at school or on the street
12. Teachers or counselors thinking you are going to be a failure
13. Violence at home

The “Talk With a Teen Girl Today” panelists weren’t able to get to every topic, but they were able to enlighten the audience on some of the points.

On Eating Healthy at School

Some of the young women agreed that the food served in their school cafeteria is worse in quality than fast food restaurants.  They want more salad options at school, although they admitted that they didn’t often eat salad at home.  One teen said that she often eats breakfast and lunch at school, and if both of those meals are “bad,” she feels weak before the school day is over.

On Violence Among Young People

Physical altercations between girls was a major concern for all of the panelists.  They agreed that fighting was not a good way to work out problems, but some said they were lacking opportunities to resolve conflicts before they escalated to fights.  One person said fighting was a way to relieve stress, another said classmates often instigate fights.  They agreed that girls are more likely to fight one another than boys are.

When the moderator asked them about dating violence, the panelists identified it as a major concern and said they needed adults to be more open to explaining how to be a good partner in a relationship.  They told us that many parents don’t talk about relationship problems unless they’re asked, and some won’t answer questions because they don’t think that their daughters should be in relationships.

“Parents aren’t ready to accept that their little girl is dating,” one panelist said.

On Sex, STIs and HIV

One young woman advocated for abstinence, no matter how girls might want boys to feel about them.  “If you wanna be respected, no is the right answer,” she said.  “Boys are always gonna come at you… just say no.”

Another young woman said that, too often, the responsibility for making decisions related to contraception, protection and sex falls on the shoulders of girls.  “I believe it’s better to talk to both sides [about safe sex],” she said.  “Guys play a role in it, too!”

On Pregnancy and Sexuality

In Montgomery County between 2007 and 2010, the birthrate for girls was 40 per 1,000 for Latinas; 15 per 1,000 for African Americans; and 11 per 1,000 for whites.  One panelist worried that not enough young women have access to programs like Crittenton Services.  She believes that similar programs focused on support, enrichment and health would bring the teen pregnancy rate down.

The discussion on pregnancy led to one on sexuality, and the young women had some disheartening things to say about how they’re portrayed by the media, especially in songs and music videos.  “The music industry has a big impact on girls and their sexuality,” one panelist said.

She added: They treat women like sex objects – like we’re property.

The depth and breadth of this conversation are an indication that our community has a lot of work to do. It’s time for adults to learn what it’s like to be a teenager in 2012, and figure out how to support teens so that they can become successful leaders in the coming years.  According to Crittenton Services, we can all help by being “NICE” (Notice her. Interact. Connect. Every day.).

You can learn more about the Talk With a Teen Girl Today campaign by clicking here.

What did you think of the teens’ biggest concerns?  Were you surprised by any of the survey results?  If you’re a teen, what’s your biggest concern?  Let us know in the comments below!

Today is Day of the Girl, the kick-off of a year-long celebration of girls and the recognition of a movement to make girls’ worlds bigger and better.  To recognize the day, we’re taking a look at the barriers to success faced by girls in the Washington metro area, and we’re listening to what they have to say about their lives.

The following infographic highlights some of the statistics found in The Women’s Foundation report 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

What the Girls Say

Girls in our community face many challenges, but at a recent community listening session, we learned that they are fierce, upbeat and have big plans for the future.  We sat down with a group of young women in Montgomery County who shared the following with us:

• If they could be animals, the girls would choose to be: a lion, a dog, a dolphin and a cat.  Why?  Because those animals are mysterious, fierce, free, protective, loving, shy and sleep all day.
• Most of the girls were aware of money frustrations their parents have.  They talked about the importance of saving, not getting into debt and paying their bills.
• There are more important things than money, they said, like: family & friends, love, health, yourself, pets and education.
• They defined success as: achieving goals, finishing school, being independent, not worrying about money, accomplishing things you dream of, and winning the lottery.
• Issues that teen girls face right now include: jobs, sexual health and money.

Click here for more details about the Day of the Girl initiative. Plus, let us know what you think about this information.  Are these the barriers to success that you see for girls in your own neighborhood?  What are girls in our community most hopeful about?  What do they like most about school?  What do they want to do in the future?  Tell us in the comments below!

April is Month of the Young Child – a time to recognize the needs and rights of young children and their families.  According to the CDC: “the early years of a child’s life are crucial for cognitive, social and emotional development.  Therefore, it is important that we take every step necessary to ensure that children grow up in environments where their social, emotional and educational needs are met.”

Ensuring that young children have a strong social, emotional and intellectual foundation to succeed in school has been the focus of Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative. The Collaborative supports quality early care and education programs that are working to successfully close a “preparation gap” that exists among children entering school.

Research has shown that a particularly wide preparation gap exists between lower- and higher-income children, even before they enter kindergarten.  And when they start behind, they stay behind.  A child who can’t recognize letters when they enter kindergarten has lower reading skills in the first grade.  And 88% of poor readers in first grade will still be poor readers in the fourth grade.

According to The Pew Charitable Trusts, “children who attend high-quality programs are less likely to be held back a grade, less likely to need special education, and more likely to graduate from high school.  They also have higher earnings as adults and are less likely to become dependent on welfare or involved with law enforcement.”

The Women’s Foundation’s recent report, 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area (Portrait Project 2010), took a look at the achievements and needs of all women and girls in our community and shows that cost and availability are major deterrents in our area to providing young children with high-quality early care and education.

The high costs of child care are a major challenge for working mothers, a problem that’s especially acute for single women, according to Portrait Project 2010.  In the District, the average annual cost of full-time, center-based infant care is 52 percent of the median annual income of a single mother.  The cost is more than one-third of the average annual income of a single mother in Maryland and Virginia.

There is federal assistance available, primarily through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), but recent reductions have resulted in long waiting lists for subsidized slots.  Portrait Project 2010 found that there are more than 13,000 children on waiting lists for subsidized child care in D.C.  There are 3,800 on the wait list in Fairfax County.

The subsidies are so important because childcare in our region is expensive.  One high-quality center in Fairfax County charges $360 per week.  In spite of the high cost, child care centers still struggle to meet their expenses, and child care workers often do not make a living wage.  The median annual earnings of child care workers in our region ranged from $19,270 in Virginia to $24,900 in D.C.  “The fact that child care providers earn so much less than public school teachers in our region underscores the need to increase the status and earnings of these important professionals who care for our youngest children,” according to Portrait Project 2010.

Washington Area Women’s Foundation works with Grantee Partners across the region to increase the capacity and institutional stability of early care and education programs, enable these entities to develop and manage their resources more effectively, and improve these programs through grantmaking, training and technical assistance.  In order to accomplish these goals, the Foundation recently made grants to CentroNia, DC Appleseed, Empower DC, Fairfax Futures and Voices for Virginia’s Children.

Click here to learn more about the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative. And click here to read Portrait Project 2010.

Photo credit: Michael Colella Photography