Mentoring Boosts Girls' Self-Concepts - school-based program at the Boston Renaissance Charter School - Brief Article

Instructor, April, 2001 by Dana Truby

In junior high many previously confident, well-adjusted girls experience a sudden negative change in how they see themselves. Accordingly, they are at far greater risk for depression, eating disorders, dropping out of school, and other moderate to severe problems. A new school-based program at the Boston Renaissance Charter School, "Exploring the Leader Within," works with girls ages 7-14 to prevent self-destructive patterns by targeting a root of the problem: self-concept.

The program encourages the development of leadership potential in seventh-grade girls through pairings with adult women, called "muses." The program also works to empower girls to take on leadership positions, to use their voices to bring about change, and to recognize and create options for action by giving them a new way of thinking about situations.