A report from Alverno College on the status of girls in Wisconsin revealed a number of persistent, troubling patterns for Wisconsin girls, especially in the areas of sexual violence and human trafficking; stress, depression and suicide; bullying; TV, online and social media engagement; and substance use.
The data also points to another disturbing fact — Wisconsin girls of color have it worse than white girls. Yet, the 2018-2019 report from the Alverno College Research Center for Women and Girls did note some improvement in areas including sexual activity, teen birth rates and smoking. This shows many local initiatives are working.
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of hours girls report spent on computers or video games. They now surpass boys in this measure. In 2007, 15.5 percent of girls surveyed in Wisconsin reported spending three or more hours per day this way.
By 2017 the number increased to 41.5 percent of girls. With the positives, the study also highlights areas for improvement.
"One of the things that's concerning, is the growth of online bullying for example and other forms of bullying," said Jodi Eastberg, Executive Director of the Alverno College Research Center for Women and Girls.
The study also shows significantly more girls in Wisconsin than boys reported experiencing cyberbullying with 24.9 percent of girls reporting they had been bullied in the past year compared to 11.9 %percent of boys.
"Girls are really attracted to the visual sites like Snapchat or Instagram so I think that part of what is happening is they are going online and opening themselves up to scrutiny and so some of the bullying is coming through" Eastberg said.
One organization that uses the report to service girls better is the organization Pearls for Teen Girls in Milwaukee.
"A girl might be dealing with a issue that surfaces through online or screen face interactions that will come up in group and the group can give strategies to get though and handle it," said Gerry Howze, the Director of Pearls for Teen Girls.
Through reports like these Howze says they are able to gain insight to the work they do everyday.
This is the fourth report on the status of girls in Wisconsin as part of Alverno’s continued commitment to raise awareness regarding issues and challenges that impact girls in our state.
The first report was released in 2007, followed by updates in 2010 and 2014. The report focuses on girls (in most cases ages 10-19) across the state of Wisconsin. Data are drawn from various sources compiled and analyzed by researchers affiliated with the Alverno College Research Center for Women and Girls.
The full 2018-2019 “Status of Girls in Wisconsin” report, as well as an executive summary,can be found here. On March 23, Alverno College will host a Girls Summit that will offer an opportunity to address the challenges the report highlights. To register, click here.
