Lizzie Marvelly is the chief executive of GirlGuiding New Zealand.
OPINION
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away … in Rotorua in 2003, I started high school. It was a simpler time, and my after-school hours were spent going to friends’ houses and school production rehearsals, writing navel-gazing journal entries, sending text and “pxt” messages, and playing Snake on my Nokia phone.
It was a turbulent time in my life – as the aforementioned teenaged journal bore witness to – with plenty of angst, friendship struggles, and what I can now see were disastrously ill-advised crushes. It was, in short, exactly what many of us who were born before the early 1990s experienced as we traversed the years between child and adult.
For those who were born after the early 1990s, rites of passage in those crucial “tween” and teen years have changed radically. As a parent myself now (of a teenager and a toddler) I can see many of the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which childhood and adolescence have become altered almost beyond recognition.
A growing body of research is confirming what many parents and teachers already know: that children and young people are spending huge amounts of time on screens. According to research conducted by the American College of Pediatricians, children aged 8-12 spend an average of five hours per day using screens for leisure (excluding time spent on screens for school or homework).
For teenagers, that number rises to 7.5 hours per day. Another study, by Pew Research, found that 45% of American teenagers reported that they use the internet “almost constantly”.
There’s now no need for teenagers to understand such ancient slang as g2g (got to go) or brb (be right back), because they need never leave the online spaces that travel interminably with them.
It’s not just the opportunity cost of this huge amount of time spent online that negatively impacts upon young people.
Researcher Jean Twenge has demonstrated in her work that as teens spend more time on social media, they become more at risk of suffering from depression, anxiety and other disorders.
Girls are particularly at risk. On the flip side, teens who spend more time socialising with their peers in the real world (through activities like playing team sports or participating in community groups) have better mental health.
Children and young people are spending huge amounts of time on screens. Photo / 123RF
Which is where activities like GirlGuiding come in.
It may seem ironic – that a century-old organisation could provide a solution to such a modern problem, but I want to make the case for applying “old” thinking to a new paradigm.
At GirlGuiding New Zealand, children and young people aged 5-18 are provided with a safe place to come together, make new friends outside of school in a non-competitive environment and do adventurous things that take them outside of their comfort zones, which help them to build confidence and resilience.
They don’t have to be the best sportswomen, or have particular artistic skills, which may be a factor in other extracurricular activities. They are encouraged to speak up, try new things in a hands-on way, work together, and develop leadership skills.
They are welcomed into an organisation that has a set of values, and a large group of role models (including older girls and volunteer leaders) to look up to. They become part of an international movement, which gives them opportunities to travel overseas and learn about different cultures. Most importantly, they have fun.
Recently, I attended a Brownies meeting. It was loud. And in the racket were laughs, squeals and thudding footsteps of a group of girls who were having a great time together. It was a stark contrast to groups of young people we so often see huddled together in silence as they all scroll on their own devices.
It seems simple, but time spent interacting with each other in real-time, picking up on facial cues, body language, tone and inflection is an opportunity to gain and hone vital skills that set us up for success in our adult lives. It’s a chance to learn new skills, and give something a go in a supportive environment. It’s an opportunity to develop resilience.
I’d argue that it’s a lot more valuable for our young people to spend a weekend tramping, camping, swimming and singing around a campfire with their peers, stepping out of their comfort zones and achieving things they thought they couldn’t, than spending it endlessly doom-scrolling on TikTok.
When I speak to our volunteer leaders, the incredible people who give up their time to lead groups of Pippins (age 5-6), Brownies (7-8), Guides (9-12) and Rangers (12-18), they agree. They see the positive impact that our programmes have upon young people on a weekly basis. Those leaders also become part of a community of like-minded adults, passionate about growing the next generation of resilient young women, and form their own enduring friendships and connections.
Whether children and young people become involved in sport, artistic groups or activities like GirlGuiding, the positive impacts of these real life experiences can act as a kind of “antidote” to some of the harms of our increasingly digital world.
I may be somewhat biased, but I would argue that GirlGuiding is the best of the bunch.
