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MADISON — Meet the girls of Wisconsin, more than 360,000 of them between ages 10 and 19. How are they doing?
A new report called “The Status of Girls in Wisconsin’’ tries to answer that question in areas ranging from education to sexual activity to social involvement.
Based on a review of data from state, federal and other sources, the 100-page report describes high rates of literacy and graduation for Wisconsin’s girls, but also finds troubling data on teen pregnancies and abuse.
“It really becomes a springboard for discussion. That’s the intent of it,’’ said Christine Lidbury, executive director of the Wisconsin Women’s Council, a state agency that produced the report with Alverno College, the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin and the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee.
The findings include:
More diversity is evident among Wisconsin girls than adult women, with nearly twice as many Hispanic and black girls as women.
High school girls score lower than boys on standardized math tests, but higher than boys on reading tests. Girls are more likely than boys to take advanced placement classes, but boys are more likely to earn test scores high enough for college credit.
Girls work primarily in traditionally female occupations, such as hospitality and retail jobs, and they are most likely to focus on such jobs as child care and health care when anticipating future employment.
Wisconsin’s teen birth rates are below the national average, but rates are high in Milwaukee County, with 5.2 percent of births to teens younger than 18, and in Menominee County (6.9 percent) and Adams County (6.8 percent). About 2.4 percent of babies in La Crosse County were born to teens younger than 18 in 2006, according to a report from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.
Wisconsin girls engage in less physical activity than girls nationally or Wisconsin boys.
Mary Beth Malm, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Milwaukee Area, said organizations that work with girls will see the report findings as a call to action in such areas as career choices and healthy lifestyles.
“We really are looking for opportunities to have girls discuss what this means to them,’’ she said. “We want to hear girls’ voices.’’
For more information about the report, go to http://www.womensfund.com
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