Activism Log #1

Activism:

              This week I was able to attend one of the Girl Scouts meetings, and meet a few of the girls. In this meeting we discussed what the girls thought about our plans and how they defined community service. Judy thought that the unit event would be more successful if the girls were actually able to lead a small group of Dailies, instead of the focus being on us leading the girl scouts. Candace and I gave them ‘homework’ which was to come up with an ice -breaker and an activity that they would like to host at the unit event.

            This meeting was successful in the sense that I feel like we have finally made some type of progress and have solidified some of our plans. However, I definitely feel really disorganized and would have liked if our entire group had been at the meeting, so what we could have made decisions as a whole, because Candace and I were sort of forced to make group decisions without consulting everyone. Unfortunately, there were only 2 girls at the meeting instead of all 6 of the troop, which didn’t supply us with enough input. What bothered me the most at the meeting was that I felt that the ‘adults’ were dominating the conversation and decision making and that the girls were not engaged enough.

            I feel like to accomplish anything for next week our entire group needs to come together and make decisions and delegate responsibility. I have emailed SafeHouse about our day of service event, and am hoping they get back to me by next week so that we can make definite plans and contact the girl scouts.

Reflection:

            During the meeting with the girls I did not feel as though we were making the atmosphere conducive for them to develop leadership skills or make any real decisions. I most apply this situation to what MacNeil writes about, “…we must frame our programs so that youth have opportunities not only to develop skills and knowledge but also to apply them in meaningful and authentic ways (33)”. I agree with MacNeil, and acknowledge that our interaction with the girls lacked this; now I need to figure out how to actually implement this when we are with the scouts. I doubt that the Girl Scout leaders were intentionally preventing the girls from being a part of the decision making and brainstorming, nonetheless, they were. This week has solidified all the theories we’ve been learning about in Girls and Leadership, because I was actually able to see the process of girls and leadership in action, and see the challenge that is to be overcome when working with girls and leadership. 

            

Reciprocity:

            So far I’m gaining a lot of insight that supports and challenges my feminist views. More than anything else I am gaining personal experience into what we are constantly reading about and seeing why, first hand, youth leadership is unsuccessful. This experience has benefited me in an academic way much more than anything else. 

Works Cited

MacNeil, Carole. “Bridging Generation: Applying “Adult” Leadership Theories to Youth Leadership Development”. 2006: 27-43. Print.

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