Chance to Choose is a project aimed at doing just this. Dave
McGrail, parent of a middle-school girl, noticed that there are all kinds of
bullying his daughter was engaging in, unaware of and often adamant that it was
not bullying. So he wrote a book: a “choose your own adventure” book for
middle-school girls where they would be confronted with situations involving
bullying, cyber-bulling, gender, body image, and peer pressure and have to make
choices and face the consequences.
The book inspired a teacher to read it in an after-school
setting to her female students to address these topical issues. This, in turn,
inspired Dave to create Chance to Choose, a formal after-school program that
plays through these scenarios with small groups of girls and works out
solutions, outcomes, consequences, and all along the way throws in variables
that adjust situations, making one rethink her actions. It’s interactive,
it’s role play, it’s social learning, it’s building emotional intelligence, and
it’s filling a significantly under-attended to need. It’s great to be talking
about why bullying is bad but it’s a whole different thing to do something
about it.
On this day, when we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., I celebrate
Dave and Chance to Choose for working to help young girls stand up for
themselves and to treat each other with respect. What if youth had toolboxes
full of strategies to combat bullying and build respect among peers?
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