Suchergebnisse

From a young age, girls experience many influences that may negatively impact how they view their bodies. Many girls are subject to teasing by peers and feel pressure to conform to gender norms. Moreover, the media perpetuates an unattainable and unrealistic image of women, referred to as the ideal female body. Since peers and the media are prominent influences, researchers have implemented curricula as interventions to help girls navigate perceptions of their bodies in a healthy way. Building on prior research, the GIRL curriculum was developed as a semi-structured, co-created curriculum that aimed at engaging girls in critical analysis of media's representation of female bodies in society. Furthermore, the GIRL curriculum aimed to help girls identify and navigate their possible perceived barriers to physical activity. This curriculum was developed as a response to a lack of resources available for teachers, after-school personnel, and others who work with young girls to engage with the girls about issues of the body in a physically active setting. This program article focuses on the development and implementation of the GIRL curriculum and provides insight, through qualitative analyses, into how a curriculum could help young girls improve their understanding and perception of their bodies and feel empowered. A copy of the co-created curriculum is presented. The researchers urge future practitioners to co-create the curriculum with their participants in order to create opportunities that would allow young girls to view their bodies in a more positive light and feel empowered through a variety of activities.

School-age youth of low-income, urban communities frequently experience systemic inequities, such as limited access to healthy foods, lack of space for physical activity, higher drop-out rates, lower academic performance, and escalating rates of neighborhood violence. These inequities are often exacerbated for girls of color. After-school programs hold great potential for countering these issues, particularly when guided by a positive youth development (PYD) model. This qualitative study examined girls' experiences in one after-school PYD program called REACH (Reflective Educational Approach to Character and Health). The authors discuss the ways in which the co-creation of a participant-centered space and interrelated connections between participants and program elements contributed to the girls' experiences of the program in particular ways. These findings enhance understandings on how girls' experiences shape relational dimensions of the PYD model, particularly PYD through sport. The authors conclude with implications for future research, suggesting enhancing the PYD through sport framework through activist-based research as a particularized means for further researching girls' experiences in after-school PYD programs seeking interdisciplinary integration.