Girls Incorporated of Lynn   Inspiring girls to be Strong, Smart and Bold!

Girls Inc. has met all 20 standards for charity accountability with the Better Business Bureau.

Here are tips to support girls' gender equity 

through talking and listening!

Tell a girl she's great because of what she does and not because of how she looks.

Tell a girl it's okay to brag about something she's good at.

Tell a girl it isn't "yucky" to play in the mud, hold a snake or get dirty.

Tell a girl it's okay to get angry and to express it in a healthy way.

Tell a girl you'll assist her efforts in leadership by offering to help fundraise, driving her to and from meetings and pitching in on letter-writing campaigns.

Tell a girl there is no such thing as Prince Charming and that most women will need to work most of their lives to be financially secure.

Tell a girl she should gather as much information as she can from many different sources before she makes a decision.

Tell a girl it is never her responsibility to make other people feel happy, loved, or secure and that saying no is always an option.

Tell a girl about the mistakes you've made and what you wish you had done differently.

Tell a girl to think in terms of nutrition and to banish the word "diet" from her vocabulary - and tell her you will do the same!

Ask a girl what she finds interesting and troubling in the magazines she reads.

Ask a girl about her favorite television shows - what roles she sees girls and boys, women and men play.

Ask a girl what she wants to be when she grows up and talk about how she can attain it.

Ask a girl her point of view on current events and actively listen while she tells you.

Ask a girl how her social life is going - is she getting support from friends, are people pressuring her about choices she makes?  Listen to what she has to say without getting upset or in a judgmental way.

*Excerpted from the Girls Incorporated book, Strong, Smart, and Bold: Empowering Girls for Life.