Recently I have been doing a little research on girls, health and education. I thought back to when I was growing up and remembered how I ALWAYS had sports to occupy my time. I was a regular "Sporty G" (sports girl). I was a gymnast, dancer (tap, jazz and ballet), basketball player (point guard that could strip you before you knew what happened), high jumper, hurdler, a pompom girl/choreographer and I jogged (a lot). Sports gave me incentive to watch my weight, stay strong, get good grades and strive to win. I didn't get pregnant until I was a grown woman, happily married, gainfully employed with a career and ready to stop traveling. We wanted and planned for our child.
Info in my Google search reminded me of an advertising campaign Nike had about fifteen years ago entitled “If you let me play.” Of course the ads drew my attention, because I'm a Girl AND they advocated the benefits for girls and young women participating in sports. Personally, being a Sporty G, I have always been more of a "Just Do It" type of girl, but anyway the ads were thought provoking.
I was pleased to find that the Nike foundation is now focusing on education - their latest effort is known as the Girl Effect. The Nike Foundation (supported by Nike and the NoVo Foundation) is trying to raise up adolescent girls in poverty-plagued, developing regions of the world. I'm thinking we could use such efforts right here in our own poverty-plagued Peoria.
The Girl Effect’s Web site asserts that when a girl becomes better educated, this helps them as well as “their families, their communities and their nations.”
Data on the site illustrates that positive changes can come in areas like health - the more schooling mothers get, the healthier their infants and children will be; and income - an additional year of secondary school will increase a girl’s wages by 15 to 25 percent. Check out the video...
The Girl Effect’s Web site asserts that when a girl becomes better educated, this helps them as well as “their families, their communities and their nations.”
Data on the site illustrates that positive changes can come in areas like health - the more schooling mothers get, the healthier their infants and children will be; and income - an additional year of secondary school will increase a girl’s wages by 15 to 25 percent. Check out the video...
The GirlEffect.org