Girlguiding runs an annual flagship survey which discusses the experiences of over 2,000 girls aged 7-21 and explores the barriers that young women face in their everyday lives. This year has been like on other in the history of the survey- research began before lockdown in early March and finished it in April, after schools closed due to Covid-19. It’s an incredibly useful resource to see the common themes that girls and young women are concerned about. We thought we’d take a look at some of the ‘stand-out’ statistics and how we have tackled them- or what more we could do…
86% of girls and young women aged 11-21 think women in sport are good role models
Our sports week was a fantastic way to show the work of some amazing and inspirational women in sport. We looked at Kyniska of Sparta, the first woman to win at the Olympics as well as some more modern female champions including Serena Williams, Kadeena Cox and Megan Rapinoe. We agree that these women can be incredibly influential and pivotal in improving the perception of sports among young women and girls.
73% of girls believe there should be more opportunities for young people to be involved in politics and decision making
Each year, we take part in the national UK Parliament Week and look at all issues ‘voting’. This year we are hoping to put together some amazing content (in light of this statistic) to continue to engage our members with politics and the importance of active decision making.
50% of 11-21 year olds feel upset about the homes and habitats of animals that have been destroyed
This year, we helped to celebrate the first ever virtual Earth Day! We had so much fun learning about how we can save the planet, all from the comfort of our own homes. Before this, we also took part in ‘Future Girl’ and made our #plasticpromise by writing blogs on ‘Top 10: Ten ways to be more eco-friendly’, ‘Second-hand September’ and ‘Our favourite eco-influencers’.
44% of girls agree that social media makes them feel confident to speak out about things they care about
Our platform is designed to be a safe space for members of Girlguiding to discuss topical issues and get to know other members of their community. Over the last three years, we have had guest blogs and media content on a huge variety of topics- from ‘Period Poverty’ to ‘Disability Awareness’. We love that people feel comfortable to share views about all sorts of different topics, so keep sending your amazing blogs in to share with others!
44% aged 17 to 21 stating that they’d like more advice on how to relax
Mental health and knowing how to wind-down after a long, difficult day are incredibly important topics. We’re looking at how we can recommend more resources to relax and cope with the difficulties that life throws our way. One of our lovely new admins has created a series on Mental Health Experiences and it has proven to be one of most popular ever social media posts, with more likes, comments and shares than any other post! This shows the demand for more content like this, to create a safe space without the stigma.
39% of girls aged 11-21 agree with the statement “It makes me feel angry that adults aren’t doing enough to tackle climate change”
Even though we’ve done loads to raise awareness of the issue of climate change and the importance of recycling, we know we could do more! Another one of our admins has created a blog entitled ‘How to make…’, where she takes you through some super cool crafts that you can complete without very many materials. We’re also going to keep sharing the resources that Girlguiding LaSER partner FareShare have published on how to reduce food waste, to create a more sustainable environment.
Girls aged 11-21 feel that more should be done to increase inclusivity within youth organisations
Whilst there was no specific statistic on this, it’s pretty clear to see that this is one of the major themes to come out of the report this year. We’ve seen just how important inclusivity is but now we need to act, to implement it. Another one of the 18-30 ‘Hubs’ in the Northeast of England has come up with the idea of recommending some social media accounts to follow each week so that people can diversify their feed and we think that this would be a really positive step to acting on the results from this survey. We will also continue to look at how we can ensure our content is as diverse as possible, so that we celebrate all of our members, from all backgrounds- if you have a blog idea on this topic, please get in touch!
Essentially, we’ve seen that our platform can provide a great place for sharing ideas and having lots of interesting conversations about all sorts of topics. But the survey has shown areas that we can act upon, to ensure that the issues raised within it can be tackled out in the open. As always, if you have any ideas or comments please let us know on Facebook and Instagram!
Find the survey (and previous results) here: https://www.girlguiding.org.uk...
