Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta: Bringing mothers and daughters together to talk about puberty

Tackling Tough Topics

A Girls Inc. program helps moms and daughters talk about puberty

The "P" word can make mothers squirm as much as their daughters. But at Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta, a unique program is helping both generations confront the embarrassment and start talking about the facts. With five interactive sessions for girls ages 9-11 and their guardians, the Growing Together program (the first phase of the Girls Inc. Preventing Adolescent PregnancySM) is designed to jump start honest conversations and encourages parents to be their daughters' primary sexuality educators.

It's no small challenge to create a safe environment where women and girls can open up about puberty and sexuality. According to Dira Rochester, Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy Specialist and Director of Program Operations at Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta, one key is to get mothers back in touch with their inner girl. "The first session of is just for the mothers. They get an overview of the topics that will be covered in future sessions and we also do a piece that allows them to go back in time to when they were their daughter's age. They journey a bit into the past, so by the next week when the girls are there they are a little more comfortable," says Rochester. Girls are a bit shy at first, too. But Rochester has seen that after the group gets past the awkwardness of the first session, it's usually no holds barred. "For the first time, these girls are getting factual information. They open up to you and ask you things that you might think they'd never ask because their mothers are there," she explains.

These candid conversations have made Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy a hugely popular program in the Greater Atlanta area, with the mothers themselves often serving as publicists and recruiters. "Mothers who have been through this program with their daughters previously will request it for a younger daughter. Sometimes the moms are so bent on having the program that they will go out and recruit other mothers to make sure that their second daughter has a chance to go through it," says Rochester. This customer satisfaction extends to other sections of the community as well. After a local nursing student went through the volunteer training to become a Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy facilitator, she raved to her advisor about the benefits of the training. Now Rochester is in discussions with the nursing school to make the Girls Inc. training a formal part of the nursing program. "It's a twofold relationship," she says. "We're getting them to deliver our programs to girls and they're getting the training from us and building their facilitation skills and comfort level."

Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta has successfully teamed up with local schools to promote and deliver the Preventing Adolescent PregnancySM program to almost 4,000 girls in the area. And with such an enthusiastic grass roots marketing effort, those numbers are sure to rise steadily in the coming years.

Learn more about the Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy program.

Get tips on talking to your daughter about puberty.

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