Schools chief: Girls are tougher than we realise

Young women know how to cope with sexting and predatory boys, says head of Girls Day School Trust

GIRLS should not be wrapped in cotton wool because of sexting and “predatory boys”, the head of a leading girls’ private schools group has said.

Cheryl Giovannoni, head of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), said girls were stronger and more resilient than they were often given credit for.

Ms Giovannoni argued that parents and teachers should not succumb to becoming overly protective in an attempt to shield them “from a deeply evil world where they are preyed upon mercilessly”.

The chief executive made the remarks during a speech at the annual conference for the GDST, a group of 26 independent schools and academies in England and Wales.

Ms Giovannoni said she had heard a talk by the renowned psychologist Steve Biddulph at Wimbledon High, in which he spoke about his book on raising girls.

“The portrait he painted was a depressing one,” she said.

“With two teenage daughters of my own, I wondered if I was living in a parallel universe, blissfully unaware of the extreme pressure they were being subjected to, relentlessly, by predatory boys hell bent on taking advantage of them, without any of the coping skills they need to thrive in today’s world. In Biddulph’s world, girls are so anxious and unhappy.

“And don’t get me wrong, I know that some girls are. But overall, it’s not a picture that rings wholly true for me, nor one that we should succumb to as yet another reason to wrap girls in cotton wool and protect them from a deeply evil world where they are preyed upon mercilessly.”

The chief executive argued that it was a good time to be a girl as gender equality had improved in recent years.

She highlighted the fact that the number of female MPS had surpassed 200 for the first time in the country’s history.

She said that girls were social beings who were able to hold their own online, pointing out that in the US every major social media network – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter – has a higher proportion of women than men using it.

Celebrating the Trust’s 145-year history, Ms Giovannoni said there was a “huge amount” schools could do to foster girls’ development.

Hitting out at the portrayal of girls as “victims”, Ms Giovannoni said: “I believe that many girls are far stronger, resilient, opinionated and feisty than they are given credit for.

“There’s a huge amount our schools do every day to create and celebrate that empowerment.

“We know how girls learn, what they need to thrive, how they are best supported and encouraged.

“That’s our business – the business of teaching girls to be the very best they can be.”

‘I believe that many girls are far stronger, resilient, opinionated and feisty than they are given credit for.’