ParentTip: Teaching Girls Bravery Not Perfection

According to Reshma Saujani, founder of the organization Girls Who Code, “we're raising our girls to be perfect, and we're raising our boys to be brave." In her TedTalk, she addresses the gender-specific socialization that is leading our young men to take risks and see obstacles as challenges to be surpassed, while our young women view obstacles as opportunities to fail or tarnish their image of perfection. Imagine how limiting it would be to only attempt tasks that you were certain you’d succeed in. This not only hinders progress in the classroom, but in the workplace and our society at large.

Through the limitless task of learning to code, Saujani’s program is socializing girls to be brave rather than be perfect, and more importantly, teaching them that they are not alone in their imperfection. When the risk of failing is seen as an opportunity to learn and try again, our young women become empowered and an entirely new world of opportunity is available to them.

Check out this awesome article on raising brave girls!