Quips & Tips
Inspiration for parents, teachers, counselors, and mentors of
girls

Hi!

When my first book for girls, The Girls’ Guide to Life, was released, I expected to hear from lots of girls.

While I did hear from quite a few (which was wonderful), their numbers were nowhere near the numbers of adults who contacted me in search of more information. I discovered that parents, teachers, counselors, and youth organization leaders—not to mention aunts, uncles, and librarians—are in fairly desperate need of ideas for inspiring and empowering girls. They’ve embraced The Girls’ Guide to Life to the point that my publisher is planning a second edition. This makes sense, because while girls are bound up in their everyday lives, it’s their parents, teachers, counselors, and role models who care most fervently about their development, and who recognize the potential of their own input and influence.

Helping girls remain confident in the face of societal pressures, retain their voices, and outsmart obstacles is a continuous challenge. What do you do beyond applying the basic self-esteem-building advice, such as emphasizing girls’ intelligence over their appearance and encouraging them to try new career alternatives? There are lots of things you can do, and a slew of excellent resources, and I will share some of them with you in this section.

Since my books are centered around quotes and I’m a believer in the power of even one quote to shift a girl’s perceptions of the world, each edition will feature one quote relevant to girls and their potential, along with a little perspective, related facts and figures, and ideas for nurturing self-esteem and inspiring daughters, students, nieces, and mentees.

I hope this section is valuable for you. Please let me know if you’d like to see any particular topics addressed in Quips & Tips.

Catherine

Quips & Tips #1

To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes.
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton, suffragist, social reformer, 1815-1902

You want your daughter to go to college. You want to help your students get into top-notch schools. What can you do short of droning on about the importance of studying hard, getting good grades, and getting into an Ivy League institution?

Understandably, it’s tough for teen girls to think that far ahead and picture how having gone or not gone to college will actually impact their day-to-day lives. However, every girl is aware that in this society, money talks. This gives you a piece of information that can make her sit up, take notice, and vividly see herself in the future: the stark contrast in income between college grads and non-college attendees.

How stark is that contrast? The U.S. Department of Labor tracks the pay that college graduates and nongraduates (25 years and older) earn. The average hourly pay for grads is $20.53. This amount drops to $11.98 for those without degrees. What’s more, says USA Today, it’s easier to get a job in a slow economy if you have a college degree.

This could be just what you need to turn college into something cool in her mind. But did you know it’s also the new bastion of girl power? Yep, according to “60 Minutes”, more girls are getting college degrees than boys. A Florida State University study found that while 66 percent of boys are shooting for college degrees, seventy-five percent of girls expect the same.

Share these tidbits with the girls in your life and watch them start hitting the books.

Copyright by Catherine Dee

Organizations: If you would like to reprint this material, you’re welcome to use it at no charge provided you credit Catherine Dee.

Quips & Tips #2