Troubled Teens Resources

“…We don’t talk much about is the way our culture encourages girls to compete with one another at the expense of developing true, meaningful relationships with other girls, and how that simple arrangement can contribute to the way girls mistreat each other, even within so called “friendships”. I’m not talking about competition in academics or athletics. I’m talking about competing against one another for status, popularity, and the attention of boys. We train our girls from an early age, marketing make-up and sexy clothing to girls beginning in grade school, stuffing teen magazines full of articles on how to “get the guy”. Certainly our girls are not missing the message here.

What would it be like if we lived in a world where girls spent their time, energy, and talents working together instead of working against each other? Just imagine what they could accomplish….
(Source)

Indeed, just what would healthy friendships and smart relationships mean for today’s teen girls? The writer correctly points out that today’s teenage girls view each other via competitive roles instead of viewing each other as friends and allies.

Increasingly, the role models for teen girls have deteriorated into that of a teenage vamp, instructing girls in sexual one-upmanship instead of pride in achievement. Instead of respecting and encouraging each other in academics and sports, they vie for superiority in the dating scene, often being cruel to those teen girls who do not achieve popularity with the opposite sex and who show little fashion savvy.

All-girl teen boarding schools and academies are often the option concerned parents choose when discouraged and fed up with the public school’s continuing inability to influence teenagers to pursue positive paths and role models.

Girls’ academies teach a different sort of value system that can’t be often found in public schools. A system where pride of achievement and the discipline of hard work is considered meritorious, not the latest pop star styles.