Girl Talk at Healthy Within

For this activity, ask for volunteers or choose girls at random. One at a time, have the girl stand in the middle of the circle, pick a scenario out of the hat, and read it aloud. They are then to answer the question “What could I have done differently?” using the assertiveness tips they just learned.

If they get stuck, ask the other girls in the class to help out by giving good assertiveness tips!

Thoughts of the Day

Tell me about a recent time that you were not assertive but you could have been.

Class 2: Cliques and Gossip

Materials

Stick figure group roles.

The In-Box Girl

Describe the characteristics of a popular girl in school. We’ll call this girl the “in box” girl.

What is outside of the box, things that make someone “unpopular”?

Group Roles

What are the different groups in the school? e.g. jocks, skater kids, etc.

Are there rules for the members of each group? e.g. do they have to dress a certain way? Hang out in a certain spot at lunch?

Within each of these groups, is everyone considered equal or is there one person with a lot of power over the group? There are probably a lot of different roles within each group – someone who’s a leader, a follower, etc. Here are some of these roles:

* Along with each role description show the stick figure image of the girl in that role (with all of the thoughts coming out of her head).

* After each role ask: “Imagine you are the __. What are your favorite things about being ____? What’s the downside of being ____?”

Objectives

Understand the social dynamics of cliques and how they can affect a person’s self-esteem.

Develop assertiveness and appropriate communication skills.

Empower students to deal with cliques in an assertive way!

ROLES:

Queen Bee: She’s the most popular person in the group and she’s the boss of all the other girls. Everyone wants to be like her. (show clip from “Mean Girls“)

* Down side: Doesn’t have any fulfilling relationships; people probably gossip about her.

Sidekick: Backs up the QB no matter what; wants to be her

* Down side: Can’t express her personal opinions

Banker: Gets secrets and gossip from everyone then uses it against them to get power & to get people to side w/ her.

* Down side: Nobody trusts her so she doesn’t have any true friendships

Messenger: The girls that’s always on both sides of a fight; goes back and forth b/t the two people and sides with both of them w/o the other one knowing; makes her feel like she belongs; when the 2 girls make up, they end up blaming the messenger for their problems

*Down side: People won’t trust what she says; no true, close friends.

Wannabe: Follows the group around and agrees with everything they say; nobody really cares whether she’s there or not, so sometimes she’s the target of their teasing b/c she’ll take it as long as she can be a part of the group

*Down side: Doesn’t have her own personality, hasn’t figured out what she really wants & values

Target: The person that the group teases; sometimes they’re in the group, sometimes they’re outside of it.

*It’s more difficult to be the target when you’re inside the group b/c the people that know you the best can hurt you the most.

Floater: Girl who can move from group to group because she’s pretty much friends w/ everyone; nice to all people from all groups

* Down side: none! She’s following her heart.

~Ask the class, can you think of any other roles?

Now What?

Now that you understand the group dynamic you can decide for yourself if you want to participate in this kind of group situation.

You can use your assertiveness skills that we learned in the last class to stick up for yourself and be true to your values.

You can see how the only person that is really truly happy is the one girl who is doing what she believes.

SO… if you see yourself becoming one of these roles and you don’t want to be, you can be assertive & make sure you don’t become something that you don’t want to be!

The Chameleon Girl

A chameleon changes color with each kind of environment it is in. People can act like chameleons if they aren’t assertive. The chameleon girl becomes who she thinks other people want her to be and changes depending on who she is with.

For example:

A girl hangs out with her boyfriend who loves rap music and she pretends to love rap too.

A “sidekick” who really likes basketball but pretends she doesn’t around the Queen Bee because the QB thinks it’s a game just for boys.

It’s ok if you have been a chameleon before because everyone has probably acted like that at one time or another …

But … from now on, you can tell when you might be turning into a chameleon and catch yourself …

BE ASSERTIVE and BE YOURSELF no matter who you are around!

Thoughts of the Day

Tell us how it makes you feel to be in the group & role that you’re in right now.

Class 3: Media Literacy

Materials

4 color-copies of magazine ads/covers

(1) 2 ads from a women’s magazine

(2) 1 ad from a men’s magazine

(3) 1 cover of a women’s magazine

(4) 1 cover of a men’s magazine

NOTE: There should be a mix of “positive” and “negative” ads/covers.

Fascinating Facts strips

Media Influences (5 minutes)

Ask students how they think media influences them & write their answers on the board. Talk about the ways the media influences:

The movies and television shows we watch. What TV shows do they watch? Popular movies? What kind of message do those shows/movies send to them? How are women portrayed?

The products we buy

The way we feel about our bodies

Fascinating Facts Game - How much do you know about the media?

Pass out “Fascinating Facts” strips individually cut out from the sheet.

Have each girl read one aloud and discuss along the way.

Objectives

Become more aware of the societal influences on body image.

Gain a better understanding of manipulation tactics employed by the media and advertisers.

Learn ways to empower ourselves so we feel less vulnerable to advertising.

Explore ways women are objectified in our culture.

“Magazines … Bleh!”

Break the class into groups of two. Hand out a magazine ad/cover to each group and ask them to interpret it in detail by answering the following questions:

ADS

What is going on in the ad?

Who is the target audience they are trying to reach?

Are the advertisers manipulating our need to be accepted, to fit in? How does this persuade us to buy their product?

Are the advertisers making us promises in return for buying their product?

Is this ad positive or negative? Why?

What is used to get your attention?

What is used to make you want to own the product?

Does this message make you feel good or bad about yourself? Why?

What kind of message does the ad send about being female?

Would you buy this product?

COVERS

What does the model on the cover look like?

What articles are advertised on the cover? What is the overall message?

What do the articles imply about females/males?

Do a quick example using one of the female magazines ads.

Allot 5-10 minutes for the groups to interpret the ads/covers. Have each group present their interpretations to the class - each girl in the group should say one thing.

Take a class vote – is this ad positive or negative? If they vote that it is negative, have one of the group members crumple up the ad and toss it on the floor. Tell them this is symbolic of throwing out all of the negative feelings that ad makes us feel.

Poster & Wrap-Up

Show and read aloud the gender poster as a final thing for them to think about.

Thoughts of the Day

Find a magazine ad or cover that you do or do not like. Write down what you do or don’t like about it – remember to use the interpretation tips we learned today!

Class 4 - Media Action

Materials

Collages

“Check This Out!” questions folded and put into a hat/other container

Which World Would You Rather Live In?

Show students two collages – (1) all different people on it of all colors, shapes and sizes; (2) pictures of the same person over and over and over (some super model perhaps, maybe Brittany Spears or someone they for sure know)

Ask them to write down what they think about these two posters.

Ask students to share their written responses. Ask them, “Which is a world you’d rather live in?”

Ask students to think about whether the makeover and plastic surgery reality TV shows are promoting a world like Poster #2.

Discuss MTV’s “I Want A Famous Face” & other reality TV shows of that nature (show clips if possible).

Why are we so fascinated with makeovers of all types (style makeovers, home makeovers, etc.)?

Why are we so fascinated with reality TV in general?

Objectives

Examine the influences of society and culture on women's body image.

Explore the dangers of plastic surgery.

Develop strategies to empower oneself against harmful images.

“Check This Out!” Game

Break the class into two groups, Team A and Team B

Make 2 columns on the white board, one titled “Team A”, one titled “Team B”

You will be the Game Show Host

Each team will take turns picking out a “Check This Out!” question from the hat and trying to answer it correctly (every player should get a chance to pick out of the hat).

The person who picked the question will give the final answer, but the team will help her answer correctly; if she gets it right, her team gets one point.

Once the correct answer is revealed, comment briefly on it if you can (to clarify, expand, etc).

Add up the points for each team. The team with the most points gets a prize!

Our Dependency on Makeup

Have a brief discussion about why so many girls won’t even leave the house without makeup on. Why does this dependency exist?

The Dangers of Plastic Surgery

Discuss the possible risks and side effects of popular plastic surgery procedures (breast augmentation, nose jobs, liposuction, foot surgeries to fit into pointy shoes).

Discuss real life stories of plastic surgeries gone wrong.

Talk about the girl on “I Want A Famous Face” who got breast implants to be like Julia Roberts and ended up getting a terrible form of arthritis at only 21 years of age; couldn’t play sports anymore, could barely get out of bed

Emphasize that plastic surgery is not worth the risks. While some procedures do work out fine, you just never know what could happen - everyone’s body reacts differently to things like that, so why take the risk of ruining your life? Is it really worth it?

Empower Yourself and Others!

Make sure to let the girls know that we are not trying to judge anyone who chooses to get plastic surgery. They are not bad people at all! It’s easy to feel pressured to look a certain way in a society that emphasizes appearance.

It is up to us to help ourselves and each other grow strong enough to fight off those pressures and love and accept ourselves just the way we are!! Let’s use our assertiveness to stay true to who we are, building our self-esteem and helping others build theirs!

Thoughts of the Day

Tell me one thing a friend of yours doesn’t like about her appearance and tell me why you think she should never change it.

Class 5: Self Esteem

Materials

Construction paper

Colored markers, stickers, glitter, and whatever else you want!

Handout: Self-Esteem Tree

Feel Good Exercise (take no more than 15 minutes for this)

With the group sitting around a table or in a circle on the floor, hand out sheets of colored construction paper along with art supplies.

Have each girl put her name in the center of the page, making sure to leave lots of space around it! Have them decorate their names as colorfully and creatively as they want.

Have the girls pass their sheets to the person on their right. Each student should be asked to write one positive quality or statement about the person whose sheet they are holding, writing on the back if necessary. Continue passing the sheets around the room until everyone has contributed to each sheet. Return the complimented sheets to their owners.

Discussion - Developing Self-Awareness

Ask each student to share how it feels to see the positive things that others have to say about her.

Ask the group how it felt to write nice things about the other girls in the class.

Does it feel easier to give or receive compliments? Why?

Is it hard for you to believe what other people write? If it is easy to notice positive qualities in others, why is it sometimes hard to notice them in ourselves?

What can we do to make it easier to accept and appreciate ourselves?

Objectives

Learn how to develop self-acceptance and appreciation of good qualities we have within ourselves.

Find ways to build our self-esteem and keep it strong.

The Self-Esteem Tree

Ask the class, “What does it mean to have high self-esteem?”

Write the different responses on the board. The definition we’ll use is: “To have high self-esteem means that you think highly of the person you are and you believe you are worthy of love and acceptance.”

Ask the class to take out a pen or pencil and pass out copies of the Self-Esteem Tree.

Ask the students to write one thing they like about themselves on each branch and each root of the tree, along with anywhere else, making the tree symbolic of who they are.

Once everyone is done, ask the students to visualize this: “Every time you say something negative to yourself (a put-down), you knock down a branch or root.”

What other things might knock down your branches? (i.e. media images & ads)

What would happen to your tree over time if you were constantly saying negative things to yourself & letting the media affect you in a bad way? What happens to a tree that loses all its branches and roots?

Discuss with the girls the fact that over time the tree would wither away, lose its branches and leaves, and eventually die. Help them realize that if they are not nice to themselves, the same will happen to their self-esteem: it will wither away like the tree.

Ask the students, “What would happen if every day you added something to your self-esteem tree? Your tree would grow to be strong and powerful!”

Thoughts of the Day

Tell me about 2 things that make you feel happy and confident when you do them and why.

Class 6: Healthy Eating & Healthy Living

Materials

“What is Normal Eating?” handout with “No Weigh!!” on the back

“Dieting is the Pits” handout with Wrap-Up Sheet on the back

“Exploring Our Beliefs About Fat” Quiz & Answer Sheet

Photos - Healthy or Unhealthy?

Diets Don’t Work Fact Strips

“The Fine Line: Healthy vs. Unhealthy Exercise” (for reference only)

What Does It Mean To Be Healthy/Unhealthy?

1. Make 2 columns on the white board: (1) Healthy & (2) Unhealthy

2. Ask the students what they think is healthy and what they think is unhealthy, including foods, diets, exercise, etc. Write their answers on the white board.

As they answer, ask each student why they think each thing is healthy or unhealthy.

Be sure to include items off the “What is Normal Eating?” & “The Fine Line” handouts if nobody says them.

3. Pass out “What is Normal Eating?” handout (will have “No Weigh” on the back) - pick students to read it aloud, one sentence per person.

* Emphasize *variety* and *moderation*. Listen to your body!!

Objectives

Learn how to live a healthy life through variety and moderation.

Break down myths about fat and learn to embrace all people of all shapes and sizes

Uncover why diets don't work and the negative effects they have on our bodies and minds.

Health at Every Size

1. “Exploring Our Beliefs About Fat Quiz” - read questions aloud & have girls write their answers down.

After all questions have been read, begin reading answers aloud along with their explanations. Attempt to keep the group discussion on topic and slightly brief - this activity tends to take quite a bit of time.

2. Activities

Show pictures on Popsicle sticks of different looking people (men/women, kids/adults, fat/skinny, etc.). Hold up the picture and ask the girls to write down whether this person is healthy or unhealthy, then read the description about the person’s living habits (eating, exercise, etc.). Discuss why they originally thought the person was healthy or unhealthy and why they were wrong/right.

The Numbers Game

Description on the front: male/female, height, weight. On the back, the picture is of a male or female body builder/muscular athlete (like Arnold).

Show the stats for each person on the front, and ask the girls to say whether or not they think the person sounds in shape or out of shape. Then show them the pictures (all at once).

This should emphasize that weight doesn‘t always equal health!

Another reasons why numbers don’t matter - sizes are different at different stores. That shows us that we can’t rely on numbers anyway, so we should just forget about them!

Diets Don’t Work!!

1. Have all of the Diets Don‘t Work fact strips in a bowl and have each girl pick one to read aloud. Discuss each fact along the way.

2. Move on to the kid-friendly “No Weigh” declaration. Read it aloud and ask the girls to follow along. Invite them to sign it and tell them that we can use everything we have learned so far to stick to it. We want to be assertive, be ourselves, have high self-esteem, be healthy and happy. We do not want to be influenced by magazines and media.

Thoughts of the Day

Think of someone you know who is on a diet. Write down all of the things you would like to tell them after what you have learned in today’s class. Write it like a letter.

--If they honestly don’t know anyone who is on a diet, ask them to imagine that someone they were close to was on a diet. What they would want to tell that person? Write it in a letter form.

Class 7: Genetics

Body Changes

Ask the class whether they think body changes are more stressful for girls or boys.

Why?

Things to talk about:

1. Why do girls sometimes compare their bodies to their friends?

2. What body changes do you think teenage girls are most stressed about?

Genetics and Body Type

Ask the students to define the word “genetics”. Write their answers on the board.

Explain that genetics has to do with the characteristics we get from our family members - the way you look comes from the way your extended family looks.

Emphasize how powerfully genetics impacts the way we look ….

Over 80% of the differences in our body sizes come from genetics.

Metabolism: the amount of energy our body needs to work. Metabolism has a lot to do with our body type, and people have fast or slow metabolisms for no apparent reason - they can’t help it!

Body type discussion: The eggplant, the celery and the tomato.

Objectives

Help the girls become more aware of the ways their bodies will change during adolescence.

Learn the effects of genetics on body type.

Find ways to build our self-acceptance and improve body image.

Love Your Body - It’s The Only One You’ve Got!

Have the students take out a piece of paper and write down at least one thing they like about their:

1. Face

2. Legs

3. Arms

4. Middle

Next, have them write down one function for each of those things (face, legs, arms, and middle) that makes them happy to have that part of their body.

Liking your body isn’t being conceited, it’s being healthy and happy! We should all appreciate our bodies for all of the wonderful things they allow us to do!!

Self-Acceptance Role-Playing: How To Deal With Body Comments

Have the girls volunteer to do role plays for these different scenarios, using assertiveness and the facts they have learned to deal with each situation:

1. At a family dinner, your aunt tells you that you have put on some weight.

2. Your best friend says that you two should try out the new cool diet.

3. Your friend is upset because some boys were teasing her for “developing“ so much over summer vacation.

4. You‘re at a friends house for dinner and her mom says to you, “Sweetie, you look like a stick, have some more pie!”.

5. In the halls you overhear some girls making fun of a girl in your class because she had a growth spurt over summer and got a lot taller. They’re calling her “Jolly Green Giant” and giggling like crazy!

*For “uncomfortable” role plays (like #3 maybe), you can have the 2 group leaders do the role play as a demonstration.

Thoughts for the Day

Name your favorite quality that you share with another family member and tell us why you like it. (give an example)

Class 8: Stress Management and Perfectionism

Materials

Trying To Do Well v. Perfectionism sheet

What is perfectionism?

Our definition: trying to do everything perfectly, and feeling horrible if things aren’t exactly how you want them

Trying to please other people, living up to expectations

Overly organized and stressed

What’s the difference between trying to do well and being a perfectionist?

Let’s see if you can tell the difference …

Trying To Do Well vs. Perfectionism sheet

Read the different situations and ask the girls to think about the differences between working hard to do well and being a perfectionist.

De-stressin’!!

What are some good ways to manage our perfectionist tendencies and stop stressing?

Get suggestions from the class.

Our suggestions:

1. Get outside and enjoy the sunshine! Sunshine has vitamin D, something that naturally makes us happier!