Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.The mission statement begins with building courage. How do you build a girl's courage? Let's start with a definition
Merriam-Webster defines courage as mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. Mental or moral strength implies an internal battle. When a task before you scares you or you tell yourself that you can't do it then you face those fears and do it anyway—that's courage.
Often in scouting we focus on the outward aspects of our program and not on how they meet the goals of our mission. We worry about whether the day's activity will be fun, or which recognitions the girls will earn, and don't think about whether an activity takes inner strength. Nevertheless, opportunities to practice courage will abound. Our mission is to help create these moments, recognize them when they occur, and encourage girls to be courageous when given the opportunity.
Helping girls to fight inner battles sounds more complicated than it is. Three important aspects of courage building should be incorporated in a troop's program.
Variety
Each girl will find different things to be scary or difficult. One might find working with scissors scary so doing crafts may become a lesson in courage, while another girl might instead fear meeting bugs in the out-of-doors. Unless our program covers a wide variety of activities, we may stay in the girls' comfort zone, losing opportunities to build courage. Overcoming fear also requires repeated exposure—once isn't enough. When an activity pushes the girls' comfort zone, it's something to go back to.
Acceptance of struggle
Don't save girls from the things that scare them. Let them face their fears and be their own hero. It can be difficult to watch a girl struggle. We naturally respond to a child's difficulty by jumping in to help. This can reinforce her fears rather than build courage, because she needed to be saved. Provide encouragement, but allow her to summon her courage and push through the fear herself.
Role modeling
Leaders must also show courage when faced with our own fears or difficulties. Don't be afraid to be bad at something. Facing our own fears along with the girls can show them how to summon courage. Haven't pitched a tent before? Let them see you're not scared to try. Getting out of our own comfort zones teaches girls it's ok to be scared about something as long as we still go for it. We also need to strike the right balance between courage and safety. While it is appropriate and necessary to make sure that activities are safe, we need to do so with an attitude of "we can do this if we just follow certain safety precautions" as opposed to "we can't do this because it's not safe." Safety can too easily be used by a leader as an excuse to cover her own fears about doing something. The girls can tell if you're scared about something and you need to show them how to summon courage to accomplish appropriate activities in a safe and sane manner.
How do you build courage with your girls? Share your experiences in the comments.
Smitty
