This was a commentary about a program in Portland called Girls on the Run, where girls in third through eighth grades learn life skills and run, completing a 5k at the end of the program. It's a great program and many girls at school have participated.
Predictably, came this editorial. I'm not going to be diligent and actually look up statistics, but I'm willing to bet that participation in youth sports is not equal between genders. And while sports are expected for boys, they still aren't universally accepted for girls, even forty years after Title IX.
So that's why girls get more encouragement. Lets even things out first.
We had this program at school. It was very well-liked, but was always run by teachers who got very little credit and no compensation. They were frustrated so, it shifted to parents. Though the membership was strong, it finally ceasing to exist at our school for the last couple of years. Though, the organization is very big here in N. VA, in general.
ReplyDeleteI do think it sometimes gets a little flack for being so girl-centric.
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