Girls on Track

by Molly Barker

During adolescence, if a girl isn’t careful, she can fall into a trap called the Girl Box—a place where the way she looks is more important than who she is, where having a boyfriend is worth giving up a piece of her identity. This is a very serious problem, one that can lead to substance abuse, eating disorders, early sexual contact, and depression. Now Molly Barker, founder of the dynamic Girls on the Run® exercise program, has created a ten-week self-esteem-building plan that will instill resiliency in young girls and enhance their emotional, social, physical, mental, and spiritual health. The activities and lessons are designed for parents and girls to do together and include

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2004

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I very much support Girls on the Run (I'm a coach!). The first part of this book was about Molly's life, how she came up with the idea for GOTR and how it grew. The second part was going through the GOTR lessons, and I am glad to say that although the concepts remain the same, the lessons and activities have been updated.

[JEM · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Love the concept and vision of the organization Girls on the Run and wish there was something similar here. I read this to supplement Last Child in the Woods, with the idea in the back of my head that I want to add more intentional outdoor activities to our weekends. We are saying goodbye to Netflix in the new year and being more intentional about family exercise - so this book was helpful (more the second half) in that regard.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted know what was behind the program "Girls on the Run" (GOTR), so I picked up the book Girls on Track: A Parent's Guide to Inspiring Our Daughters to Achieve of Lifetime of Self-Esteem and Respect, by Molly Barker, the founder of the program.

This book is part memoir, part how-to. Barker recounts her own challenges and struggles, which eventually led to her starting a small program, with thirteen girls. She wanted to help young girls escape the "Girl Box" that society has created - to escape "the negative stereotypes and messages they get through the media, culturally, and socially." Thus was GOTR born.

Barker explains

"Girls on the Run... is an experiential learning program that combines training girls in grades three to eight for a 3.1-mile running event with games and life lessons that assist in their physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual development. Our mission? To educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. We address the individual girl's identity and personal connections with others, as well as her potential feeling of powerlessness within herself and her community. Participants in Girls on the Run explore the importance of being physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy. They examine their own core values and uniqueness. And they also examine body-image issues, sterotyping, and discriminatory behaviors, as well as the importance of maintaining a realistic and healthy view of themselves. Girls take from the program a better understanding of how to process the cultural and social messages they receive through media and other institutions. And they see a stronger place for themselves within their community."


The book includes a chapter that presents lessons and activities that parents and girls can do together, based in part on the work Barker has done with GOTR. The lessons range from "Getting to Know Each Other" and "Making Promises to Each Other," to "Being Physically Healthy" and "Being Emotionally Healthy." They address maintaining balance; avoiding eating disorders; listening skills; gossip; positive attitudes; standing up for yourself; learning to say you're sorry; and other topics - similar to the lessons Barker describes for GOTR.

I'm sure parents would be most interested in those lessons. I found more interesting the insights Barker offered through her own story. One idea in particular caught my attention. She was discussing a particular idea, which she recapped as "we behave in certain ways as the result of two very powerful motives: to be loved and to feel worthwhile." While speaking one day, she inadvertently switched the verbs, so that the phrase became "to feel love and be worthwhile." This is such an interesting change in perspective. We have no control over whether or not we are loved, but we can control whether or not we feel love for others. Again, being worthwhile implies some action on our part, to match our behavior with our inherent, God-given worth.

Anyway... I think the GOTR program has great value, but at the same time, I hope that all of us make an effort to reach out to the girls around us, and not rely on the Molly Barkers and the GOTR coaches of the world to teach girls to respect themselves and to live healthy lives.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time starting this book and keeping the momentum through her personal stories, but persevered to be sure I didn't miss anything before getting to the actual program. Haven't tried the program, but the dialog being encouraged is one that I think a lot of parents wouldn't cover so thoroughly and I think there are valuable components there.

In essence, the message of the "Girl Box" is (p. 19) "do more, be more, give more-because you are never good enough, never pretty enough, never smart enough, never sexy enough, never enough. Girls in the darkness of that box never celebrate what they are but re constantly seeking what they re not. They give away their souls to anyone who will love them. People pleasing becomes a way of life. Life becomes a series of performances rather than experiences."

The author encourages adults to build girls voices, bodies and spirits so that they will know they are beautiful, strong and powerful. Our role is to give them the ability to celebrate their uniqueness, individuality and girlhood to the fullest by providing as many opportunities as possible for a girl to experience genuine acceptance of themselves, just as they are. The message here is (p 83):
Your body is your body-love it.
Your voice is your voice-use it.
Your spirit is your spirit-celebrate it.
And prepare to meet the queen.

The author is very interested in self-improvement and quotes from Mario Fantini's text, Regaining Excellence in education, these three elements of child's development that will increase the likelihood of maintaining self-esteem through turbulent adolescence:
1) A secure sense of identity and a deep understanding of her values.
2) A feeling of connectedness.
3. A feeling of empowerment (through her own conclusions & decisions).

William Glasner's book, Reality Therapy, also greatly influenced the author. Her take on the essence of two very powerful motivators of behavior is, we behave in certain ways because we want "to feel love and be worthwhile." Feeling love is experiencing it and not waiting for someone else to love you. Being worthwhile is assumed because we exist and therefore deserve to be respected and in turn, treat others with respect.

Her program is then explained in detail and each of the lessons encompasses some aspect of wellness--physical, emotional, social, mental or spiritual. This program is not only for the girl though, but also the adult guiding her through this experience.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter has been part of a girls on the run group for two seasons. I bought this book because I was interested in what the program creator had to say. There were parts of the book that were very good. The second part of the book offers a DIY Girls on the run program. When I asked my daughter about whether she had done certain parts she said that she had. For that alone I would recommend the book to parents who want to help their daughters as they enter the pre-teen years. However I thought the first part of the book, that dealt with the authors difficulties was a bit over drawn. I didn't purchase the book to read about her own experiences, but instead to help my daughter navigate those difficult years.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book and enjoyed the beginning of the book where Molly discusses her story, I had a harder time going through the program at the end. I coached Girls on the Run and the program is similar to the actual program. I think this is why I slowed down. If there is a Girls on the Run program near you, this is good to help you to have an idea what your daughter will be doing in Girls on the Run. If there is not a program available to you, this is an excellent resource for getting her (and you) the lessons.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book about how the Girls on the Run program got started and learning more about its founder. The book discusses how girls of all ages struggle with getting out of the "Girl Box", which gets placed over us at an early age. There is a constant struggle to look a certain way, be popular, please people, etc. This book talks about ways to build resiliency in young girls and enhance their emotional, social, physical, mental, and spiritual health.

[Fawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The corny factor is high with this book which I have a hard time with, but I can appreciate the author's passion for the subject and the program she has created. This is half memoir, half how-to and there are some great insights on raising girls. This is a book geared for parents of adolescent girls however, so much of it is not applicable for me at this point.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay, but I didn't finish it. Maybe the author didn't stay on point well enough, and had too many stories about herself that I wasn't really interested in. It was a good idea though, and I kind of want to go back to it eventually.

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met Molly and my daughter is a 3 year graduate of the Girls on the Run program. It's one of the best things we ever did for her!