GIRLS STILL TRAIL BOYS ON MANY FRONTS

Discouraging messages, social barriers stand in their way, report says

Analyzing data from more than 200 studies, a largely downbeat report
released Tuesday found that girls continue to be worse off than boys in a
number of important ways.

And where they have narrowed the gap -- such as in smoking and arrest rates
- -- the trend isn't always encouraging.

Girls are doing better in math and having fewer babies than they used to,
according to the study by the National Council for Research on Women. But
girls are twice as likely as boys to be depressed, have less access to
sports programs, suffer more from violent crime and wind up poor more often
when they drop out of school, the study said.

``The bottom line really is that with support from adults and with adequate
resources, girls can absolutely grow up healthy, strong and competent,''
said report author Lynn Phillips, a professor at the New School for Social
Research in New York. ``But there are a number of social barriers and
negative messages that stand in their way.''

Reason for optimism

``The Girls Report: What We Know and Need to Know about Growing Up
Female,'' found some reason for optimism.

``In school, girls continue to do well in reading and language, and their
math achievement now almost matches that of boys,'' it said. ``The teen
birthrate has declined steadily since 1992, after rising by 25 percent
between 1986 and 1991, and . . . more teens appear to be using
contraception than ever before.''

But the report by the council, an alliance of 77 university and other
research centers across the country, said progress is countered by other
social and economic measures of the relative well-being of girls. Among the
areas of concern:

Health. About 30 percent of adolescent girls have thought about suicide,
compared with 18 percent of boys, the report said, and girls and women also
account for 90 percent of eating disorders. The percentage of eighth-grade
girls who smoke rose from 13 percent in 1991 to 21 percent five years
later, it said, and girls over 12 now
are as likely to use alcohol and drugs as are boys.

Violence. Girls are victims of crimes more often than boys, the report
said, and the rate of arrest for violent crimes is rising faster for girls.
Moreover, it said, ``Girls are often ignored in the juvenile-justice
system, frequently being placed in programs and facilities intended for
boys.''

Education. Although girls and boys perform about the same in math and
science through eighth grade, girls tend to fall behind in science by 12th
grade, it said. Female dropouts are also more likely than male dropouts to
live in poverty, it said, and women are less likely than men to earn
doctorate degrees. Moreover, it said, ``the percentage of high school
sophomore girls who participated on athletic teams fell between 1980 and
1990.''

No surprises

Some of these findings -- particularly the ones that show girls trailing
educationally -- don't surprise Kirsten Berzon of Girl Incorporated of
Alameda County, a San Leandro-based group that promotes equality between
the sexes. She said girls are taught from their earliest years, often by
parents, to believe they are less capable than boys.

``I just think it's ingrained'' in society, she said, noting that in many
schools, ``girls don't speak out, they get interrupted, they get teased.''

Still, weighing the relative status of boys and girls largely depends on
the kind of data that is compared, said David Arredondo, medical director
at Eastfield Ming Quong of Campbell, which offers crisis intervention and
counseling.

Although girls may be more likely to ponder suicide, boys are more likely
to actually commit it, he said. The rate of homicide and incarceration
among boys also greatly exceeds that for girls. And while a roughly equal
percentage of boys and girls sample drugs and alcohol, he said, boys make
up a disproportionate share of drug addicts.

The influence of gender in some social problems also can be clouded by
other factors, said Michelle Swalley of the Santa Clara County Child Abuse
and Neglect Reporting Center. African-American and Latino children account
for a disproportionate share of the county's abuse and neglect cases, she
noted, ``so I think ethnic disparity is something to be concerned about.''

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)