The middle school years present challenges for adolescent girls and those challenges can have a lasting impact on the way girls feel about themselves and their abilities. Moxie Girl, a new app designed for adolescents and teens, aims to help girls build confidence and provide a supportive community as they grow towards adulthood.
Peer pressure and external expectations about appearance, attitude, or behavior increase feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness as girls navigate school and social situations. These emotions often last into womanhood and may affect performance and self-image.
Designed to support girls in a variety of environments, Moxie Girl focuses on personal goals and community, replacing negative emotions with achievement and connection. The app has provided middle and high school girls with targeted assistance to mitigate the increased risk of mood disorders brought on by social isolation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Moxie Girl platform helps users identify and set goals, create an action plan, and track progress. Through the app, girls connect to trained mentors — typically young women enrolled in college — who provide advice, support, and a listening ear along the road to success. Examples of personal goals include improving grades, saving up for a purchase, auditioning for a play, or starting a club at school.
The platform also facilitates social connections with other girls in the Moxie Girl community. Users can message and make calls over the app, sharing tips and experiences along the journey to achieve their goals. Community mentors and users can offer assistance with emotional challenges, difficulty with friends or social interactions, preparing for a big event, financial concerns, and other struggles.
Moxie Girl has increased attention to emotional health as schools shifted to remote learning during COVID-19 stay-at-home recommendations and girls face a summer of social distancing. Mentors share content that encourages the girls to take walks, reach out to friends, and talk to family members. Community members communicate their frustrations about completing schoolwork at home and missing in-person activities with one another and brainstorm solutions together.
Mentors, most of whom have their own memories of adolescent angst, benefit from working with users and seeing them achieve their goals and boost their self-esteem. Parents can find relief in sharing the burden of support with others, and will undoubtedly enjoy seeing their teen flourish as they reach accomplishments. Those accomplishments ultimately lead to a lasting sense of confidence and personal pride.
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