(upbeat music) - Hi, I am Jacqui Tricarico, Senior Correspondent for One-on-One.

And so pleased to be joined now by Ginny Hill, who is the CEO of Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey, as well as Nikita Goyal who is a high school girl scout and a board youth advisor at the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey.

It's so great to have you both with us.

- Thanks Jacqui, we're thrilled to be here.

- Thank you, well, you know the Girl Scouts we know is known to really help young girls build confidence and character and really they're taking a step further right now in terms of girls and young girls and their mental health.

Describe that for us, Ginny, and the more recent report that came out is called Her Future and Focus, New Jersey Girl Report.

What were the findings for that report?

- Yeah, so Girl Scouts has always had an interest in the health and wellbeing of all girls.

You know, first and foremost our Girl Scout members, but then all girls in the communities in which we do our work.

And over the last year the Girl Scout leadership in New Jersey came together and commissioned a research project, Her Future and Focus that you just referenced, to really study girls in New Jersey and to get underneath what are the challenges that they are facing.

And mental wellness was one of the key areas, right?

So one of the things that we learned is that one out of every two girls in high school in New Jersey reports feeling a little depressed, a little blue.

We know girls are struggling with online, their online presence, you know, so feeling bullied or isolated because of the influx of technology.

So the report in its entirety, looks at the status of girls.

It gives us direction for the future programming that we may do as Girl Scouts, but we're also sharing it really broad and wide all across the state because we want all New Jerseyans to understand the status of girls and give them opportunities to lean in to be part of the solutions as well.

- As a mom of two young girls, I mean some of this data that was revealed with this report is very staggering.

It is upsetting and things that we already kind of knew, but this really brings it to light.

A couple other of the stats that I saw, one in four middle school girls are using a controlled substance, cyber bullying, like you said, and social isolation is really on the rise.

37% of young girls struggle with body image.

Nikita, I wanna bring you into the conversation 'cause you are a high school student and I'm sure these are some issues that you've either personally dealt with or you see your peers dealing with.

Talk about your own personal struggles and how the Girl Scouts has really played such a pivotal role in your growing up so far.

- Yeah, I definitely see that in my own community, in my own school, girls are really struggling with their mental health and part of that is stemmed from society's expectations of us, our own expectations and our own beliefs in ourselves.

I think we hold ourselves to high standards and part of that can be attributed to feelings of not being enough or feelings not really being able to live up to the expectations of others.

So I think that students have really been struggling in that regard.

And I would also say that there is pressure being placed on girls, especially because of social media.

So things like Instagram, Snapchat, are generally applications that I'm on, my friends are on.

But there's so many different types of influences that you can gain from them, such that students are really feeling that pressure from society in that sense.

And Girl Scouts was absolutely incredible for me as a presence because it gave me like these amazing role models with whom I could learn from and grow from.

And they taught me that you really don't need to always hold yourself to other people's expectations.

It's more about trying to grow into your own and become the best version of yourself.

And so there's so many workshops that I've done through Girl Scouts that help me build my own confidence.

And even just being with my own troop and being with other girls my age and fostering that amazing connection with all of them through our programs, has really showed me that we have the power to make a change ourselves.

And we don't always have to hold ourselves to other people's expectation.

- And it's so important just to hear from you directly how the Girls Scout has positively impacted you.

Ginny, for this report obviously you take this data and you say, what can we learn from it and what can we do to help with some of these issues?

What is the Girl Scouts doing to address some of these issues, especially when it comes to body positivity?

- Yeah, so one of the key first steps I think is awareness.

The statistic in the report actually is, you know, 34% of girls believe that they are overweight when the statistics are actually, you know, less than a quarter of girls are actually overweight, right?

So really making sure that the information is out there, that's the first step.

And then second to that, Nikita referenced events programs.

Nationally, we just introduced a whole new curriculum around body image and body positivity, right?

To really help girls to learn to love the skin they're in, to build that sense of self-confidence, where they are proud of who they are, how they look, how they look different than the girl next door or the girl, the image they see on social media.

And to really educate girls so they can build that confidence.

Because that really is the essence of girl scouting, is we help girls find their own voice, find their own goals, their own dreams, and then to build that self-confidence from within to help them buoy all those times in life.

You know, when they are gonna butt up against other people's expectations.

- Yeah, and Nikita, you are really radiating that self-confidence, which is so beautiful to see in young girls.

Talk about leadership for you and how leadership within the Girl Scouts has helped you really continue to work on that self-confidence.

- Yeah, I think that going into Girl Scouts, I wasn't the most outspoken student and that I was just the way I grew up.

But Girl Scouts taught me how to use my voice to make a change, and make a change within my community especially.

And so the first like most outstanding program I can think of for me was the bronze, silver, and gold word experience.

And in that Girl Scouts are learning how to make their own project for the community and really serve their community in a way that makes a change for the better.

And so I can distinctly remember my Silver award experience where I ran a literacy camp for students to teach English and writing during COVID, because I saw that education was being affected.

And for me, like through that process of working with my Girl Scout stroke manager, a leader to design a really comprehensive plan, working with fellow Girl Scouts and being able to teach young girl and help them grow into their own in the literacy sense made me really think that maybe really know that Girl Scouts is like genuinely the most incredible leadership training experience possible.

And I definitely think that all students would really benefit from being able to go through workshops like that, programs like that, because learning that you have a voice, even as a young girl, like can help you become so much more motivated to keep making a change for the better.

- I'm sure that will continue to help you in this next journey, going to college next year.

And what lies ahead for you, Nikita?

Ginny, I wanna follow up or just finalize our conversation with this.

I found it interesting to see the Girl Scouts posted something recently on social media talking about social media, but using it in a positive way.

We know right now we're taping this in January and it is Girl Scout cookie season and I saw something really interesting.

I wanted you to elaborate on it a little bit for us.

Cookie booth etiquette.

What should people know- - (Indistinct).

- As they're in their neighborhoods and seeing young girls selling cookies, what are some really important dos and don'ts when it comes to approaching the tables where we see young girls selling cookies?

- Yeah, so I think one of the really big dos is if you're interested in buying cookies and you wanna engage with the girls, ask them what they're going to do with the money that they're earning or what some of their Girl Scout dreams are for the year.

You will hear amazing things that will really warm your heart about what the proceeds of the cookie program are going to do in our communities, like Nikita has described.

And then for the don'ts, you know, I think a polite no thank you is fine.

We actually teach our Girl Scouts that not every customer is going to say yes, right?

And that life is full of yeses and nos and that's an opportunity for them to build their self-confidence.

You know, our girls, you know... They aren't necessarily the ones you need to have a dialogue with if you have issues, you know that that's really better set for the professionals like me.

But really ask them what are they involved in?

What are they learning in girl scouting?

There is so much that they will share with you and it really will surprise you.

There's so much behind the cookie program that most people just are not aware of.

- That's great.

Well, thank you for sharing that.

And I know I've already gotten a couple of boxes, my Girl Scouts, I was like, the Thin Mints are my favorite.

- Right, thank you, thank you, thank you.

- But thank you both so much for joining us.

We really appreciate it.

And Nikita, good luck in the next phase of your journey and your leadership journey.

Ginny, thank you so much for joining us.

We really appreciate it.

- Thank you Jacqui, - For Steve Adubato and myself, thanks for watching.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Valley Bank.

NJM Insurance Group.

PSE&G.

The Adler Aphasia Center.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

The New Jersey Education Association.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

And by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by ROI-NJ.

And by CIANJ, and Commerce Magazine.

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