What to do now?

• Increase/raise awareness - including providing education / heightening awareness of: effects of the media, gender role expectations, double binds, internalized oppression
• Encourage friendships and social groups – help girls develop collaborative relationships and help them establish a strong sense of community
• Help girls understand that conflicts are a natural occurrence in friendships and provide them with an opportunity to practice being supportive of one another
• Teach girls how to properly express their emotions (such as anger and competition)
• Mothers/parents: Talk to your daughters about relational aggression – confront relational aggression when it occurs
• Teachers: Watch girls in the classroom and on the playground, talk to girls about relational aggression
• Mothers/Teachers/Mentors: Model respect and caring. Assist each girl in developing the belief that she is a capable person who has many strengths and who can stand up for herself by reinforcing these attitudes at every opportunity – anything to support the development of healthy self esteem
• Encourage participation in competitive and team sports
• Envision what one wants regardless of traditional or stereotypic roles
• Look for and develop mentors
• Seek support from school
• Seek counseling
• Journaling