Encouraging Girls to TAKE RISKS (Oct 07)

Some of you might think it odd to encourage any child to take risks. After all, dealing with adolescent risk-taking behavior is considered to be one of the great minefields of parenting. Nonetheless, the ability to take appropriate risks is essential to success and fulfillment in all areas of life. We know that some people are naturally more likely to take risks—brain research and perhaps your common experience has shown that—but what can we do to encourage risk taking in all of our girls?

Some girls are not comfortable trying something new because of fear of failure—so let them fail! They need to reach beyond the comfort zone so they know what that feels like, and then learn to effectively manage that environment.

When they don’t succeed, seize the moment and use it to illustrate how it is possible to learn from not succeeding. In the classroom, we might offer an opportunity to try again—this time employing some of the strategies gained from examining “what went wrong the first time.”

Girls can be particularly prone to “want to please” and that can result in paralysis. In the classroom, that shows up as a student who cannot proceed to the next step in a problem because she is afraid that she will get it “wrong.” Rather than focusing on getting the right answer, we should encourage them to find an answer therefore knowing that there are multiple paths to a solution. Problem solving skills are also enhanced when different solutions to the same problem are explored.

Provide helpful support by asking questions that might help guide them to a next step (rather than simply providing a next step). A high level of support and collaboration creates an environment that is conducive to risk-taking….yet another reason to be at a girls’ school!

Modeling is powerful—if our girls see us being willing to “put ourselves out there,” fail, and then pick ourselves back up again—they know it is ok. We encourage risk-taking at GSA. Our middle school girls run community meeting; many of our girls engage in sports (WAYA volleyball, Marathon Kids), and all of our girls are challenged by a completely different environment such as the Ranch Romp trip. GSA girls are resilient and confident!