Girls Rock!!!

The movie Girl’s ROCK was really an enjoyable experience. It was very uplifting to see a camp that encouraged girls to be themselves and to concentrate on their talents and abilities rather than just their physical appearance. The camp did a great job of following the ideas from Josephine Van Linden and Carl Fertman of Youth Leadership as well as McNeil Carole author of New Directions in Youth Development. These authors noted that an important part of adolescent leadership is giving the girls’ free reign to practice leadership rather than then controlling the girls and practicing leadership FOR them. The camp counselors and directors served as guidance counselors and mediators when the groups had disagreements or needed to be reminded of their ultimate goal, but they didn’t control the girl’s decision-making processes when it came to their band.

 I also like how the camp’s way of assembling groups provided the girls with free reign as well. The girls got to choose the genre of music they were interested in as well as the construction of their own actual songs. The girls were put into a situation where they had to make decisions. Throughout the course of the camp there were disputes, and through resolution of these disputes the girls learned valuable lessons.  For instance, they learned you don’t have to be THE leader to be A leader. Each member in the group exercised leadership in her own right. The conflict resolution was truly enlightening because once again the camp counselors provided an environment that facilitated resolution, but they did not FORCE the girls to make up; they provided an environment where every group member could be heard and their opinions and feelings respected. This shows Girl’s leadership is growing and expanding and is a perfect example of how programs can make a difference. It shows girl’s leadership is alive and well and will only grow to be bigger and more powerful for the future generations of adolescent leaders.

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Works Cited

McNeil, Carole. Bridging Generation: Applying ‘Adult’ Leadership Theories to Youth Leadership Development. 2006: 27-43. Print.

Van Linden, Josephine. A., Fertmen, Carl I. Youth Leadership: A Guide to Understanding Leadership Development in Adolescents.1998:63-95.Print