Raising healthy kids has become challenging nowadays with all the social media influence, toxic living environments, and unbalanced way of life.
Widespread sexism, the lack of adequate gender equality, and more critically, the rooted culture of sexual harassment have made it difficult to raise powerful girls. Additionally, it has become difficult to teach them to navigate this world that is tough for women.  Empowering little girls is a long, complicated process, where parents need to be proactively looking for different ways to encourage and support their daughters.

Here are some of the critical points we think could help you raise powerful girls.

It’s essential to help your daughter develop her self-esteem and have confidence in herself. It is tricky, especially during high school years, as girls tend to become influenced by each other and lose their sense of themselves.  Encourage her to discover the personality that distinguishes her from her parents and friends. Give her the chance to explore and express herself in her ways. It’s also essential to celebrate her individuality without judging her. Always assure her that there’s nothing wrong with being different and that having different interests from people around her is normal. Most importantly, don’t make comparisons with anyone or categorize anything she does as boyish or girly.

Spending time doing the things she loves is another way to boost her self-esteem and elevate her sense of accomplishment. However, it’s crucial to give her freedom. Let the girl choose the activities she wants to engage in without imposing your preferences on her.  Your role is to provide her with a variety of options and allow her to pick her interests. Through several trials, she’ll be able to decide for herself on the activities she’s willing to commit to.
The more you can support her through this process of discovery, the better she’ll be able to shape her interests. It’ll surely influence her life in the future.

In most modern societies, we usually teach girls that showing their emotions is a bad thing. We tell them that people will judge them if they cry, get angry, or even show some guts and express their own opinions.
Help your daughters, especially the shy ones, express their feelings with no fear of being scrutinized or shamed. Show them that you’re compassionate and try to understand how they feel. It would help if you also addressed the negative emotions they have in a constructive conversation.  Suppressing girls’ emotions has a significant impact on their mental health, leading to anxiety and depression.

Most parents these days are too afraid to let their daughters make their own decisions. They keep trying to pave the way for them and protect them from making any mistakes. It’s better to let your daughter find her way through trial and error. Let her make mistakes and fall, get up, and learn from them. Encourage her to take some risks or do something she’s afraid of. Assure her that it’s okay to mess up every once in a while, and it is perfect to be not okay. This process of discovering and experimenting independently without relying on anyone to pick her up is the key factor in building her confidence. Making her own decision will give her an even higher sense of independence and responsibility.

Raising powerful girls means raising girls that can have an impact on their societies. That’s why it’s valuable to let them know early that their ideas and opinions matter and that they shouldn’t be afraid to share them. Listening to your daughter and regularly engaging with her in meaningful conversations will give her the courage to speak up and say what she thinks. While doing so, try to listen to her more than giving her your thoughts. It would allow her to develop her ideas and reflect on them without influence from others.

The media has penetrated our daily lives deeply. When raising your girls in this current society, balance is the key. Leaving them open to the world of social media can harm them, while completely shielding them from it will leave them out of touch and lack social skills. Having some parental control when your daughter is still young is a good decision. It’s essential to have some limitations. Discuss with her what she’s seeing and hearing, and guide her through it by putting it into perspective. You need to make sure she understands that not everything on social media is real. Raising her awareness at an early age will help her control and resist the media’s influence on her.

Growing in a loving family is the most crucial thing in raising powerful girls.
Always show love and care for your daughter. Teach her that being beautiful isn’t only about the looks, but more importantly, about the person as a whole. Always support and encourage her.  Teach her to love herself so that she would grow up to become a strong, powerful girl.