Girls Inc. Week is an exciting time of the year when our organization gets to celebrate girls and spread awareness on a girl-empowering topic. Girls across the network voted for the 2022 Girls Inc. Week to be centered around the importance of Title IX and gender equity. With Title IX’s 50th anniversary coming up on June 23rd, we have been thrilled to dedicate this week to amplifying its messaging and educating girls on the significance of the law.
Title IX is the United States federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Our organization is thankful for the opportunity to teach girls about the law, the rights they have because of it, and what life was like before it was passed. With this knowledge, girls can protect Title IX from future attacks, advocate for its importance, and elect leaders who support it.
This week at our center, we are celebrating Title IX and recognizing the progress the law has made while also acknowledging the challenges that remain for women and girls. Girls are spending the week learning about laws and how they are created, the rights they have as young women, actions they can take to advocate for themselves, and successful women trailblazers who called for action and made a change.
Check out just a few of the impactful programs our staff facilitated this week:
Kindergarteners listened to their staff, Lexi, talk about the paramount impact Title IX has left on women in sports. The law’s been called the “tipping point” for the increase in women in U.S. sports, as it has fostered the equal opportunity for members of men and women to compete in college sports and cultivate the skills they need to thrive.
First grade worked with staff Danielle to learn about our current laws and real-life scenarios when Title IX protected women in sports. Girls learned about the steps they can take if they should ever experience any kind of sex discrimination through sports.
Staff Brooke explored some history with her 2nd grade group. Girls learned women’s rowing programs gained popularity in 1972 with the passing of Title IX. Athletic departments needed to balance scholarships, spending, and the number of athletes in each sport because football teams were becoming so big, that they risked violating the new law. This led to the rapid addition of women’s rowing programs across the country. Women got a new sport and eagerly welcomed the opportunity. The girls then had their “rowing” relays!
Third-grade girls worked with their staff, Ollie, to talk about advocacy and action. They talked about impactful organizations like the Women’s Sports Foundation, International Paralympic Committee, etc.! They went on to draft their own law based on what they personally stand for, and walked through the full legislative process.
Staff Yadira led our 4th and 5th grade group in researching and reading about women trailblazers and Title IX advocates. Through learning about their obstacles, girls saw how they too can create change for what they believe in.
Girls Inc. Program Director, Jessica, sparked a dialogue with the teens on how girls today benefit tremendously from Title IX, and how it hasn’t always been this way. They talked about the inequity and injustices our mothers and grandmothers faced growing up without Title IX, and they developed a list of their own rights as girls and women.
- I have the right to feel safe at all times.
- I have the right to be treated well.
- I have the right to give my consent.
- I have the right to stand up for myself.
- I have the right to walk by myself.
- I have the right to make my own decisions.
- I have the right to voice my opinion.
- I have the right to say no on my own.
- I have the right to have my own thoughts and feelings.
- I have the right to be a leader.
Please remember that all our students remain protected under Title IX. Consider your attitudes and beliefs about gender and power, listen to women’s experiences and concerns, and speak up against any sex discrimination of any kind. Only then can we change our culture and create a society where all girls grow up safe, respected, and valued.