Girls entering grades 8 through 12 from across the state are invited to register for a weekend college retreat that targets the media’s effect on girls’ perception of health and well-being.

A leadership conference for girls, “Through the Looking Glass” features a taste of college living, guest speakers and interactive workshops at Georgian Court University from July 23-25. This leadership conference is hosted by the four Girl Scout councils in New Jersey.

“We know there is a tremendous concern about girls’ focus on weight and body image,” said Helen Wronski, president and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey, speaking for all the council presidents. “The program we have planned will get girls thinking about how the media creates unrealistic expectations for girls and women regarding body image and get them to also think about healthy living and more healthy body images.”

The CEOs noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics statistics show that by the time students graduate from high school, they will have spent 15,000 hours with the media but only 12,000 hours in school.

“That figure does not include the hours spent surfing the Internet, playing video games, listening to the radio, or reading magazines,” said Wronski. “These media images can impact a girl’s physical, emotional, and social health.”

Girl advocates from the four state Girl Scout councils are assisting with the design of the retreat including input on the workshops and activities. Girl advocates include: Kaitlyn Devrous and Jessica Nixon from Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore; Kathryn Maglione, Kimberly Jachimek and Grace Troccoli from Girl Scouts of Central & Southern New Jersey; Christina Dziedzic and Clarissa Towle from Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey; and Kavisha Khanuja, Ariel Gungil and Allison Porcelli from Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey.

Tentative workshops include: Visual Media (Positive and Negative), Uniquely Me/Self-esteem, Social Networking, Beyond Visual Media and News Media.

Using “lessons learned” from research, public policies, and Girl Scout councils’ best practices, Girl Scouts of the USA launched the Live Healthy, Lead Healthy initiative in 2008 with healthy media images being one of three priority issues identified by GSUSA. The leadership conference is an effort of the New Jersey Girl Scout councils to promote healthy media images with girls across the state.

The price is $175 per girl. For more information or to register,