The vision for our G.I.R.L. program is committed to bringing about a positive change in the mindset, thoughts and actions of our girls and young ladies. Our goal is to help them to become healthy, confident, ambitious and respectful members of society and command respect and equality in all facets of life.- raise the self-esteem of our young ladies and help them to realize that they're just as important as their counterparts(young men) in all facets of their development. Whether it be social, educational, spiritual, etc., the choices that they make will profoundly affect their lives.
- Bring awareness to issues facing our young adolescent ladies and the give them a forum to voice their social or personal concerns in a group setting, or one on one with mentor.
- Challenge them to to value themselves, command respect from boys and young men in their lives, thus influencing better more respectful and responsible behavior in our young men.
In today’s society, our young women face a myriad of challenges in their development into adulthood. There are issues with regard to being victims of violence (physical and sexual abuse) both domestically and socially. Being subject to these types of abuse can take its toll. The pressures of measuring up to perhaps their mothers or their male counterparts are all too common. Society’s conflicting and unrealistic expectations about how women and girls are supposed to look, the pressure to be perfect wives and mothers while at the same time give 100% to their kids, and 100% to their jobs, are simply unfair. There are also the ever present adolescent pressures of fitting in, wearing the latest fashions, having the coolest boyfriend, dealing with a zit attack, or avoiding the dreaded “getting fat” syndrome.
their education, family and other important areas. The self-esteem suffers and has the potential lead to an avalanche of self-depriving behaviors. Individuals with low self-esteem are more likely to do things that harm their health, like smoke, drink too much, abuse drugs, and so on. Low self-esteem also has implications for society, and has been identified as a major factor in crime and violence, teen pregnancy and poor school achievement.As to the 3rd point above, an article from LDS.org states that young women are the real guardians in terms of grooming, if you will, the young men of tomorrow: "Young ladies have a profound influence on young, masculine behavior. Young men wear clothes they think you like. Their hair will be cut to please you. You can control how fast they drive their cars if you want." "Young men--maturing, learning, and forming habits--have ideals and special persons they admire. You must be such a person."