Grade 6
The “Thank Goodness I’m Female” (T.G.I.F.) is offered to 6th-grade girls and facilitated by trained high school mentors/facilitators. T.G.I.F. is a 10-week program that meets once a week. This initiative focuses on relational aggression while forming and maintaining healthy, positive friendships. Unnoticed, relational aggression, a pervasive form of bullying purposely intends to harm or manipulate relationships to hurt another. This prevention project is critically important since many teen girls’ problems form from: low self-esteem; eating disorders; drug use.
All can be rooted in social victimization. High school students teach younger girls to be positive advocates for one another, as well as for themselves, which decreases incidents of social victimization.
A teen-led and developed approach, the T.G.I.F Initiative changes attitudes and behaviors that support or justify relational aggression amongst girls. Emphasizing the development of healthy female friendships and peer relationships through:
This project is funded by: The Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.
For information on these programs contact the Violence Prevention Program Manager at Helpline – Amy Hawthorne ahawthorne@helplinedelmor.org