about Respect Rx

Hey all! I'm Courtney Macavinta, co-author of the best-selling book for teen girls RESPECT and founder of Respect Rx, which is devoted to empowering girls, women and their advocates to boost self-respect, sisterhood and social change in their lives—and our world.
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Advocates, Programs, Social Change + Activism

Omega Teen Camp

Hey girls (and girl advocates)! I wanted to tell you about an amazing summer camp you might want to check out this year. Omega Teen Camp is an empowering and creativity inspiring camp for teens that was founded at the Omega Institute in New York.

I was a guest teacher at the camp last year. During our daily intensives, myself, my assistant teacher (the fabulous Rachel Myrowitz) and a group of passionate teen girls talked about our experiences with self-respect, sisterhood and social change. We also did a social change web—a tool developed by the awesome org Girls For A Change! (see example below).

The girls focused on the Issue: Why do so many girls have a negative body image? Next, they looked at the Effects of having a negative body image and the Causes of negative body image. Then they came up with their own three-fold social change project to impact a root cause of the problem (that girls need more support from each other to feel comfortable in their own skin!).

And they did this all by just spending a few hours a day together during one week! The girls:

...created and led a workshop for other girls at the camp so they could talk about body image, why so many girls hate their bodies, and what they can do about it!

...designed "INNER beauty bands" with positive affirmations. They wore the bands to remind them about how valuable they are and that they deserve respect (especially from themselves).

...hung positive affirmation signs throughout the camp with phrases to inspire their fellow campers to see their inner beauty—not just what was in the mirror.

The girls were so creative, caring and motivated to make changes. I think they were so primed to work together because of the supportive and progressive environment at Omega. I've been so inspired by the girls that I've been telling other girls around the country about their project!

 

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<< Previous: Quiz: Does Respect Rule Your Relationship? | Next:Gossip Girls >>