What's Happening to Our Girls?

Why are girls as young as five years old concerned about their looks and addicted to shopping?

Why are young teenage girls having sex and binge-drinking, responding to chat-room predators, and bullying their peers via email and text messages?

Why are depression, cutting and eating disorders on the rise, and why, with so much choice when it comes to careers, do so many just want to marry young and have babies?

Over two years Maggie Hamilton interviewed girls, teachers, school counsellors, psychologists, and law enforcement and medical personnel to get an insider's view on what girls are experiencing at present, from birth to the teenage years.

Informed, revealing, compassionate and at times shocking, What's Happening to Our Girls? is a book for parents and all those who want to better understand and support girls.

About the Author

Maggie Hamilton is the author of two major books on the problems facing girls and boys growing up in a world that is changing very quickly and forcing them to confront major developmental issues at a very young age. She has spent five years interviewing children across a wide age spectrum and analysing the results to show how a number of issues such as drugs, drink, sexualisation, depression, body image and bullying are creating a high pressure environment for today’s children. Her research also encompasses the views of teachers, school counsellors, psychologists and law enforcement and medical personnel. What’s Happening to Our Girls? and What’s Happening to Our Boys? are major studies which have had an enormous impact on people’s attitudes to bringing up their children. While Maggie pulls no punches in discussing some of the quite shocking issues confronting today’s children, she also offers solid advice for parents and educators on how to create a more promising future for girls and boys.