Girls are not only advocates for themselves; they are advocates for other girls near and far. They speak up anywhere things are important to them, whether at home, school, or in public with their friends.

The Girl Scout Research Institute surveyed girls in February of this year and found:

• The majority (86 percent) of girls consider themselves to be advocates.

• Girls most often want to talk about peer pressure and acceptance (43 percent), followed by drug and alcohol abuse (39 percent), violence and abuse towards children (37 percent) and smoking (36 percent).

• Girls least often want to talk about girls having limited access to education (15 percent), mental and emotional health (15 percent), violence in the media (14 percent), human trafficking (13 percent), HIV/AIDS (13 percent) and unemployment (10 percent).

• Girls believe there is still a need for gender and racial equality in the United States.

Three-fourths feel that it is still necessary for the country to focus on gender equality as well as racial equality.

However, approximately 9 percent feel racial and gender equality have been achieved.

• Girls see varying levels of influence of particular groups in the United States. When asked which groups have too much influence, the right amount of influence, or too little, girls say the following:

Too much influence: wealthy business leaders (68 percent) and men (53 percent).

Too little influence: young people (64 percent), women (54 percent) and senior citizens (51 percent) have too little.

• More than 8 in 10 girls want to know what's going on with girls their age around the world.

Learning to be an advocate for themselves and others is part of the Girl Scout's leadership development program for girls.

This fall, girls in grades 11th and 12th (Girl Scout Ambassadors) will specifically be able to work through the new “journey,” Your Voice, Your World, The Power of Advocacy, to earn the Advocate Award.

To see how girls in Girl Scouting in the United States and across the globe are speaking up for themselves and taking a stand on key issues, check out Take a Stand: www.wagggsworld. org/en/grab/1563/3/1advocacy.pdf developed by girls worldwide with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

Adults can make a difference in the lives of girls! We're looking for adults to mentor girls, as well as team up with other adults to handle a variety of administrative tasks.

All contribute to changing the lives of girls. To find out more about Girl Scouting locally, visit the Girl Scouts - Seven Lakes Council Web site at www.girlscoutssevenlakes.org.

Judith E. Gallagher is communications director for the Girl Scouts Seven Lakes Council, Inc. She can be reached at 539-5085 ext. 721