 |
Zink the Zebra
According to a national study, girls'
number one concern is being teased or made fun of. These
feelings of insecurity directly impact a girl's sense of
emotional safety as girls do not feel safe, cope by withdrawing
and isolating themselves. The result has been associated
with a negative impact on family relationships, poor academic
performance, inability to establish friendships and poor sense
of self. Destructive behavior such as teasing or
ridiculing usually results from girls' misconceptions and
prejudices about those different from them.
To meet the challenge, Girl Scout of North East
Ohio (GSNEO) has implemented the "Zink the Zebra" program to
help girls develop understanding, respect, compassion and
acceptance. The "Zink the Zebra" Patch program is based on
a book written by an eleven year old cancer patient named Kelly
Weil. Kelly found that as her appearance changed during
chemotherapy, her friends, classmates, relatives and even
teachers treated her differently. To help deal with her
feelings, she wrote a story about a Zebra named Zink who was
also treated differently because she had spots instead of
stripes. In the program, Leaders or Volunteers guide and
encourage girls to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts.
Components include videos, songs, crafts and games. Each
girl receives "Zink the Zebra" learning tools that reinforce the
program messages after the program's completion. In
addition, most troops conduct service projects to raise
awareness through programs such as Wigs for Kids.
The program also covers the Teaching Tolerance materials that
address the real life issues that teens are confronted with
regarding prejudice and racism. |
|
|
| This
innovative initiative offers all girls educational experiences
designed to develop an ongoing sense of awareness and
appreciation for individual differences as it fosters compassion
and respect for others. Through this program, girls learn
that their actions and words have either a positive or negative
effect on others. In addition, this program helps girls to
take pride in their individual differences by learning that all
people are unique. For more information,
contact Fallon Pulley at 216-481-1313 ext 288 or
fpulley@gslec.org.
|
|
|
|
