Seven Major Issues of 1997 Facing Girls in the United States

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NEW YORK, Jan. 8, 1997 -- Violence, economic opportunity and changing family dynamics are three of the seven issues facing girls between the ages of five and seventeen in this country, according to the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.

Based on the organization's membership of more than 2.5 million girls and its 800,000 volunteers, the other issues identified were, gender inequity, substance abuse, technology and societal expectations.

Elinor Ferdon, Girl Scout National President, outlined why these issues will be significant:

• Violence - Our society has become increasingly violent and research shows that our nation's children are at risk. Child abuse, and other violent crimes against children are on the rise.

  • According to "Child Maltreatment 1994: Reports from the States to the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect" 1,012,000 children were victims of substantiated child abuse and neglect in 1994; an increase of 27 percent since 1990. In addition, the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect reported that 1,111 children died as a result of abuse in 1994 and 5,400 children were killed during the five-year period of 1990 to 1994.

  • Violence has also taken a toll on girls in the United States with the Justice Department reporting that one half of all females raped in 1992 were younger than 18 years old.

• Economic opportunity - Girls raised in poverty have fewer opportunities and face more barriers to success than girls of families living above the poverty line.

  • The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in 1995, twenty percent of children in the United States under the age of 18 were living in poverty -- the highest rate for any group.

• Changing family dynamics - Changing family dynamics have increased the probability that girls will be raised in a single parent household, in particular one headed by a woman. Single mothers can provide a loving and stable home, but since women earn less than men for the same work, these families tend to live close to the economic edge.

  • The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that twenty-five percent of United States households with children under 18 are headed by only one parent and almost eighty-five percent of those households are headed by women.

  • According to January 1996 Employment and Earnings, the 1995 median weekly income of women age 16 and over was only 75 percent of that earned by their male counterparts.

• Gender inequity - Great strides have been made to narrow the gap between the sexes, but inequity still exists and has far reaching consequences for the future of this nation and its girls.

  • According to a 1995 report of the US Department of Education, 17-year-old girls scored 4 scale points lower than boys on the national mathematics assessment test and were less likely than boys to take science classes such as physics (24 percent versus 19 percent). These numbers are consistent with the findings of a 1988 study by Nevitte, Gibbins & Codding that indicated girls are discouraged from developing an interest in these fields at an early age.

• Substance abuse - The lure of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs is a growing and serious threat to the health and well-being of our nation's girls. According to the U.S. Health and Human Services 1995 Monitoring the Future Study:

  • Daily use of cigarettes by eighth-grade girls (ages 13-14) increased 48 percent between 1991 and 1995; nearly one out of every ten eighth-grade girls is a daily smoker.

  • Almost one-fourth (24 percent) of eighth-grade girls reported consuming alcohol in the past month.

  • Since 1991, the rate of eighth-grade girls who used marijuana in the past month rose faster than the rate among boys, from 2.6 percent in 1991 to 8.2 percent in 1995.

• Technology - Society of today is more technology oriented than that of fifteen years ago. Computers in schools and the workplace are more prominent and girls are not as prepared as boys to be a part of the computer-age.

  • A 1995 Harris poll of third to twelfth graders revealed that 15 percent of the boys surveyed said working or playing on the computer was one of their three favorite activities, while only 8 percent of the girls said the same.

• Societal expectations - From birth, girls are taught what is expected of them from their families, friends and society, but sometimes these "lessons" can be unhealthy. For example:

  • Authors of the "Take Action for Girls" newsletter used the word "girl" as a keyword to search the Internet and found 40-50 percent of the sites identified contained material of a demeaning or sexual nature, while using the word "boy" only one negative site was found.

  • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1995 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, found ninth-grade girls are nearly twice as likely as boys to have thought about attempting suicide in the past year (34.4 percent versus 18.2 percent) and more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide at least once in the past year (14.9 percent versus 6.8 percent). The same study also showed that nearly two-thirds (63.8 percent) of ninth-grade girls reported trying to lose weight in the previous month.

  • The American Anorexia and Bulimia Association, Inc. reports that five percent of adolescent and adult women have anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorder and fifteen percent of young women have substantially disordered eating attitudes.

"The issues facing girls in the United States and the statistics that accompany them are significant," says Ms. Ferdon. "In 1997, girls need positive messages, meaningful opportunities and the support of their families, communities and national, state and local organizations. This integrated commitment can make a difference and we owe it to the girls of today; the women of tomorrow.

We at the Girl Scouts are committed to helping girls address issues such as these. For example, we offer technology-oriented programs to increase proficiency in math, science and computers; we have anti-smoking, substance and alcohol abuse prevention initiatives and we provide special training to our over 800,000 adult volunteers designed to eliminate gender inequity in their work with girls."

CONTACT: Robin Brynes, 212-704-4487 or Janice Rotchstein, 212-704-8164