Boarding Schools for Girls

Some parents worry that, when the proverbial going gets tough, their children will run away from lifes difficulties. In North Carolina, groups of young girls are learning that running can actually empower them to solve some of the more pressing problems they will encounter.

In a Nov. 15 article on the website BlueRidgeNow.com, writer Beth Beasley described the local impact of two national programs:

Girls at four elementary schools in Henderson County are racing side by side in Girls on the Run and girls at one middle school are competing in Girls on Track. The after-school programs aim to prepare girls for the bumpy road of adolescence.

Girls on the Run trains girls in third through fifth grade to complete a 5K (3.1 mile) run and helps them develop skills they can use to resist peer pressure: effective communication, team building and how to make healthy lifestyle choices.

In addition to training for the 5K run, Girls on Track addresses more complex issues, such as dating, the dangers of drugs and alcohol, obesity, depression and promiscuity.

"We get girls from all walks of life; some never have run before and some have been on teams," says Audrey McElwain, executive director of Girls on the Run of Western North Carolina. "We're definitely filling a void -- there's such a high demand."

Labels: athletics, sports

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In a June 23 article on The Huffington Post, U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) extolled the virtues of Title IX on the 37th anniversary of passage of the landmark legislation, which banned gender discrimination by educational institutions.

However, Sanchez also noted that the equality that is guaranteed under Title IX remains in peril of being eroded by opponents of the legislation:

Before the law passed in 1972, girls made up only 7 percent of high school sports participants. Now, more than 40 percent of high school athletes are female. But its impact reached far beyond sports, from the academic to the arts and sciences, and even to the boardrooms of the Nation's top enterprises. ...

Despite Title IX's success in advancing equality for women, it continues to come under attack and has been frequently challenged in court. As our economy trembles and colleges and universities deal with budget cuts and shrinking athletic budgets, Title IX's achievements are in grave danger of being scaled back. ...

The most telling effect of Title IX is the fact that today, more women than men are attending college. Today, well over half of all undergraduate college students are women -- and women outnumber men in graduate school enrollment, including high-paying, high-powered professional programs like law.

"Title IX deserves its place in the law," Rep. Sanchez wrote, "so that no field will be missing its female athletes."

Labels: athletics, sports, legislation, equality

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