Michelle Obama urges girls not to hold back in schools
Print Edition
US first lady Michelle Obama has some advice for teenage girls: Don鈥檛 shy from being the smartest kid in the class. And never mind what the boys think.
鈥淐ompete with the boys. Beat the boys,鈥 she told about 1,000 schoolgirls and young women on Tuesday at an event aimed at publicizing her 鈥淟et Girls Learn鈥 campaign to expand girls鈥 access to education in developing countries and encourage American girls to take advantage of their opportunities. But the first lady also gave some impromptu, personal pep talks on handling the pressures of adolescence.
On dealing with the frustrations, embarrassments and slights of high school: 鈥淚 know being a teenager is hard,鈥 but it鈥檚 temporary and not a template for the rest of life: 鈥淗alf these people, you鈥檙e not going to know when you鈥檙e 60.鈥
And on whether being brainy comes at a social cost: 鈥淭here is no boy, at this age, that is cute enough or interesting enough to stop you from getting your education,鈥 the water pump operator鈥檚 daughter-turned-Harvard-trained lawyer said. 鈥淚f I had worried about who liked me and who thought I was cute when I was your age, I wouldn鈥檛 be married to the president of the United States.鈥
Mrs Obama has made girls鈥 schooling one of her signature issues during her husband鈥檚 second term, particularly after the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April 2014.
After she and the president unveiled Let Girls Learn in March, she traveled to Japan, Cambodia and London to promote it and introduced an online offshoot on Saturday at the Global Citizen Festival, asking concertgoers in New York鈥檚 Central Park to tweet photos of themselves with the hashtag #62MillionGirls. The number represents the number of girls worldwide the US Agency for International Development has said are not in school.
Let Girls Learn involves hundreds of grassroots projects aimed at countering economic or cultural pressures that spur many girls to drop out 鈥 pressures such as early or forced marriage, fear for girls鈥 safety as they travel to and from school, the expense of school fees, or societal beliefs that it鈥檚 less important to educate girls than boys. Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard joined in the discussion.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
