Students eating breakfast in Collis Wednesday and Thursday morning may have noticed atypical visitors: junior high girls. They were congregating in the Common Ground for Sister to Sister, a student-run conference that joins Dartmouth women and middle school girls from the Upper Valley. Through speakers and discussion groups, the girls confronted issues ranging from academics and athletics to peer pressure, self-image and relationships with family and friends.
The College hosted a similar conference, Boys Speak Out, the day before.
In each meeting, the low-pressure informal environment generated discussion between the older and younger students about how to deal with the difficult issues young adults face as they grow up.
"It wasn't difficult talking to the kids about the struggles of adolescence because we're not that far removed from their situation," said Preston Copley '07, who participated in the boys' event.
Sister to Sister began six years ago to help preteen girls pursue careers in science and math, but the Dartmouth students in charge soon realized that the key to a young girl's success involved more than just hitting the books.
"The conference has become more of a forum to discuss all the issues that are going on in the girls' lives," discussion group leader Monique Lemus '07 said. "Rather than specific issues like eating disorders and depression, we talked about sexuality, body image in general, and being whoever you are."
Soon after the start of Sister to Sister, Anthony Webb '03 founded the Georgia-based non-profit organization Boys Speak Out. This year's Boys Speak Out began with a panel discussion in which four Dartmouth males recounted their experiences in junior high and passed on valuable lessons they wished they had known during those years.
"The coordinators of the event did a great job of getting a really diverse group of men to work with the kids," Copley said. "It was important for the boys to see that no matter what their background, or how tough their middle school years are, they can still grow to be confident, successful men with individual goals and personalities."
The boys also watched "Tough Guise," a movie that focuses on society's expectations of men and listened to a speech from Lavinia Weizel '04, the WISE Coordinator of Youth and Community. Older and younger students discussed issues like succeeding in junior high and perceptions of masculinity in small groups during much of the conference.
Kyle Judge '07, this year's Boys Speak out discussion groups leader, felt that the conference was a success.
"We had 129 boys this year, which is by far the most we've ever had," Judge said. "It's always tough with junior high kids to get them to talk about stuff like this, but a lot of them were very vocal in the discussion groups."
