Women's philanthropy at work ...
"Expedition to the Middle School Mind"
From: WGC News
The philanthropy group has been focusing for a couple of years on projects that help adolescent girls.
This was the second year it was host for a tea for educators.
"Women educators are most likely to be the influence on young girls, and we want to celebrate that fact," said Jean Moon, a Women's Giving Circle board member.
By Sandy Alexander
Baltimore Sun
February 23, 2007
After spending a year immersed in the lives of a group of middle school
students and writing a book about that experience, Linda Perlstein had
some advice for an audience of Howard County educators.
"It is important to understand what it is like to be 12 or 13 now, not what it was like for us to be 12 and 13," she said. While all middle school students face a time of physical, mental and emotional changes, she said, the culture they face today is different from a few decades ago.
"The line between child and adult has really blurred," she said, noting how much commercialism is aimed at children today, the intensity of competition they feel and the culture's pervasive sexuality.
Perlstein shared her insights Tuesday afternoon with dozens of female teachers, principals, administrators and other listeners at a Clarksville event held by the Women's Giving Circle of Howard County.
