Part of our mission of "building girls of courage, confidence and character" involves empowering girls to feel safe in the world they live in. Many of the programs offered to Girl Scouts focus on nurturing the emotional health and teaching coping mechanisms to help them develop positive self-esteem.

But what about physical safety? Two Girl Scout troops from the Whispering Wheat Service Unit in Pratt got to travel to Wichita to learn some self-defense moves from "Fearless and Female" coach Cindy Coughenour.

Cindy teaches girls and women personal safety and practical self-defense moves and she says that no girl is too young to learn how to keep her body safe from harm. She has even worked with Daisy Girl Scouts.

With her "Girl Power" program, Cindy teaches the girls the basics of defending themselves against an attacker and protecting their personal boundaries and then lets them try it out for themselves and practice the skills she teaches them.

The Girl Scout Research Institute indicates that 51% of girls polled believed they could keep themselves safe, but there is no point in taking chances. The "Fearless and Female" program teaches the girls how to recognize and avoid dangerous situations in the first place, however, if fighting back is their only recourse, the program gives them the motivation, skills and confidence to fight back and survive!