One of the things that I truly believe is more “important” in parenting than it really is is that I believe I can’t wait for my kids to grow up. Because society has conditioned us that way, many of us parents, especially parents of girls, assume that by the age of 10, our children are done with their toys, that they are just itching to be more independent and spend less time with us, and that as they grow up, they only think about being adults.
And it’s not. (Thankfully!)
I strongly believe that the world places too much emphasis on preparing children for adulthood (rather than enjoying childhood). And a recent study by the Girl Scouts of the United States found that young girls may feel the same way.
The study, conducted by Wakefield Research on 1,000 US girls aged 5 to 13, found that adulthood “sounds scary” to 54% of girls. And it’s not just the youngest girls. In fact, the feeling increases as you get older.
41% of girls aged 5 to 7 are afraid of becoming an adult, jumping to 62% of girls aged 8 to 10 and remaining at 60% of girls aged 11 to 13.
I mean, who can blame them?
“This data confirms what we have known for years: Girls are reaching adulthood in a world that is changing more rapidly than ever before, and they are trying to carry the weight of that change while still being kids,” Bonnie Barchikowski, CEO of GSUSA, said in a press release. “That’s why it’s so important for girls to have supportive adults in their lives, like Girl Scout volunteers, who help them navigate the world around them, build confidence, and develop skills that will last as they grow older.”
I think we all worry about the fears and anxieties our children have, especially in today’s world. And whether your child joins Girl Scouts or not, it’s really important to surround your children, boys and girls, with people they trust, people they feel safe with, and people who inspire them. In a Girl Scouts of America survey, 85% of girls said they admired others for what they were capable of doing (compared to 15% who said they admired others for what they looked like).
Girls may be more insecure growing up than we think, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need safe boundaries to grow independently. Girl Scouts of the USA encourages easy, low-risk ideas to help girls build confidence, such as trying something new in a different setting and teaching them real-world skills in a safe environment. Many of our fears are rooted in fear of the unknown. Maybe we can alleviate that a little bit by making girls feel empowered and ready for anything.
But we always remind them that they have plenty of time to “grow up.” After all, some of us are still growing.
