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Yanet Balderas
Professor Olivas Sally
English 201
November 22, 2016
Educate Girls
The short story, The Friday That Everything Change written by Anne Hart, is about a
girl name Alma Nile and a group of girls who wanted the same privilege as the boys in their
classroom. The big issue that these girls wanted to change is that boys should not be the only
ones to go fetch a bucket of water for the class. Alma Niles asked Mrs. Ralston, if she can choose
a two girls to go get water for the class. Mrs. Ralston replied, by saying that she will think about
it. On the other hand, the boys didnt like the idea of having the girls go fetch a bucket of water,
so they were going to do whatever it takes to stop the girls from doing this task. The boys would
beat up any girl that comes in their way and they would not let any girl play softball with them.
Till one day, when the boys were playing softball and the girls were seating out, Mrs. Ralston got
the baseball bat and strike a home run. Both girls and boys were so surprise that Mrs. Ralston
made a home run. By making the home run, Mrs. Ralston wanted to show that girls dont need to
accept the limitations that force on to them. This short story relate to a social issue of how girls
around the world are limit to some activities, such as not having any access of being educate.
About 58 million girls worldwide are not in school. Every gender has the right to be educate, that
includes girls especially. Taking education form girls is not only hurting them, but are also
hurting their families, their communities, and their economy.
There are many barriers that keep girls around the world from attaining to school and
being educate. In Pakistan, girls often miss out due to belief that their less value in educating a

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girl than a boy. Education activist Ziauddin Yousafazi says, You see, in patriarchal societies,
right from the very beginning, when a girl is born, her birth is not celebrated. She us not
welcomed, neither by father nor by mother. The neighborhood comes and commiserates with the
mother, and nobody congratulates the father. (Ted Talk My daughter, Mala). Many families
consider only boys to be the breadwinners of their own future families and the supporters of their
aging parents, which is an incentive to educate boys. Girls are seen as a house keeper and have to
take care of their siblings. Families in India expect their daughters to help at home with cleaning,
cooking, taking care of younger siblings and helping on family farms. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
Girls are force into marriage with someone who is much older than they are. Girls are married
when they reach puberty that is the age of twelve, at a young age they tend to have early and
unwanted pregnancies. Lastly, Girls who are raised in poverty families that cannot afford to send
all their children to school. Most of the time the daughters are not send to school to be educate.
The daughters will either have to go find a job to help her family or may to get marry so the
family wont need to take care of her.
If a girl living in a developing country is not attending to school, she will not be given
access to learn about sexual health information and contraception. In the eyes of many, a girl is
consider to be a woman at the age of twelve and is force to be marry at the age of fourteen. By
that age of fourteen, she may become pregnant. These girls who get marry at a young age, tend
to have many children, because they dont know how to control their fertility. Yet, there is a big
chance of a young girl survive childbirth, due to compactions when giving childbirth. Not
knowing about sexual health and contraception, a girl has the risk of getting a sexually
transmitted infections from not wearing protection when having intercourse. The transmitted
infections that a girl can contract is HIV and AIDS. Contracting any of these infections, a girl can

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transmit these infections to her unborn child. If the girls baby is contracting these kind of
infections chances are, the baby may not survival.
These disparities hurt not just girls themselves, but also their families suffer. When a girl
becomes a mother who has a lack of education, she will not properly raise her child or children
in good health. Globally, almost two-thirds of illiterate adults are women. According to Gender
Inequality in Education, A child born to an illiterate mother is 50% more likely to survive past
the age of five (Moheyuddn 5). A mother who is illiterate, will not know about health care
resources, due to having trouble reading and understanding the information that can help her get
her ill child better. A child being raise from a mother who does not have any education wont
properly be feed right or enough in which can lead the child to be malnutrition. For any child
that has a mother who didnt go school, the mother will not teach her child about proper hygiene.
She may not teach them the importance of washing hands. Not teaching your child or children
about proper hygiene, they can get sick or can spread illness around others.
When girls are not educated, it effects the communities they live in. According to
Education is a no brainer for girls, Most of all, as a global community we must challenge
attitudes about what girls can and cant do with their lives and their education (Despoja, 1).
Communities in developing countries will not change their attitude towards educating girls,
because they are not aware how education if very important for both genders. The Cost of
Gender Inequality by Sean Wiley says, Many potential variables that could account for this
inequality due to societal norms, and gender discrimination (3). People who live in developing
countries will continue thinking that having boys being more valuable more than girls is part of
culture. If not having the community and family to contribute in working to make education to

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be more access for both girls and boys, girls are still have a disadvantage of getting the same
amount of education as boys.
Girls being uneducated creates an issue towards the economy. In the article Gender
inequality in education states, Girls and women are denied access to education and relegated to
unskilled, low-paying jobs. In addition to reducing their chances for a better life, their lack of
education costs their country in terms of lost economic growth (Moheyuddin 4). A Woman with
no education will not be able to provide for her children as well, as a man with education would.
A man with an education will more likely find a job that pays a lot and that require a good
amount of skills that the man does have. The man is able to provide for his family with a food
and a roof over their heads. For a woman with no education, will work at a job that pay less and
doesnt require any skills. Not having girls go to school, they wont be able to learn basic skills
such as reading and math in which can help them with employment. Without an education, girls
are less likely to be able to earn a safe and adequate income that would lift themselves and their
families out of poverty. By a girl being unemployed, it can cause the country to decrease the
economy growth. Education for Girls, Women Leads to Development [analysis] states, The
labor force suffers when a large part of citizens cannot contribute to economy development
(Roselyn, 5). Girls do play a big contribute in the economy, but since they are not able to go
school to learn, they cant really help the economy in any way to grow.
Girls dont need an education, because they are going to be staying at home taking care of
the children and doing all the chores. Secretary for the Compassion center in the community of
Donato Guerra Julia Miranda quotes, Mothers accept the custom of telling their girls that they
will not go to school or receive an education because they will only marry and have their own
children. In developing countries such as Mexico, traditional girls dont receive an education

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but rather they get marry at of 12. Girls are seen as housekeepers who would use only basic skills
that dont need to be taught at school. Even if a girl does go to school and is taught, she just
wasting her time, because she is going to end up staying at home and taken care of everything
that a housekeeper are responsible to do. However, there are others who felt that education can
open new doors. Mala Ziauddin a childrens and womens right activists, who advocate for the
right of women and every child to receive an education. Education is one of the blessings of
lifeand one of its necessities a quote that Mala use in her speech when she was accepting the
noble peace prize. Mala feels that education is a wonderful element to have and that every person
should be allow to earn. Yet there are places around the world that still dont allow girls to be
taught. Mala spoke from every platform she could in order to show she was standing for girls to
have the right educate. Mala want to tell others that having an education will lead to better
opportunities of a better life. She wants to show that traditions of not having girls being educate
can be broken with education. Mala did receive many death threats and was shot in the head by a
Taliban gunman, yet that didnt stop her for fighting what was right.
Education can make a girls life success and more peacefully. Girls, who stay in primary
and go to secondary school, are more healthier, marry at a later age will have better performance
in a work place, Women with higher levels of education have fewer children, are more likely to
give birth for the first time later in life. Education for Girls, Women Leads to Development by
Roselyne Sachiti states, Mothers who are educated will promote healthier, smaller families (4).
Mothers with education will raise healthier educate children, who will be given good nutrition
and who will be attaining to school regular. As stated by Education is a no brainer for girls,
Girls who stay in school will have the access to learn about sexual health and contraception
(Despoja 2). They will understand that using a protection will pervert them from getting sexually

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transmitted disease such as, AIDs, and HIV. When a girl becomes a women, she will have better
control of how many children to have. Also, she will be safer to give childbirth, because she has
waited to the time she ready and fully develop to bring a child to this world.
Girls with an education can make a difference in the economy. Educating women is good
for the economy. In the article, Education is a no brainer for girls by Natasha Stott Despoja
explains That increasing girls secondary school attendance by just 1% adds 0.3% to a countrys
average annual per capita income growth (1). Women could be valuable assets to the labor
market when being educated. At school, girls can be are taught the skills that are use and needed
to make to help them when working. It will help a girl to get a job by having basic skills for
instance, reading, writing, and math that employers are looking for, women

know how to

manage their money wisely. The cost of Gender Inequality quotes, Women with the ability to
make financial decisions tend to save more, are less prone to corruption, and tend to spend
money on investments like healthcare and education (Wiley, 2). This quote clearly shows that
women with an education know to manage money. Women who knows how to manage money
can also teach their children the importance of money manage.
When girls are educated, they can help improve their community. Girls that are well
educated can help spread the awareness of how much education is important for every gender
within their community. Raising awareness at family and community levels will promote
positive attitudes towards education for girls. Getting a lot of people being involved with teach
them to see that it doesnt matter what gender you and that shouldnt limit anybody of being
educate. People will then become mentors and leaders that will help guide others to a path of
education. In the Ted Talk My daughter, Mala, Ziauddin Yousafzai quotes, Education is
power. It is just like a light in complete darkness.(Ziauddin). Yousafzai sees education as a light

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that help girls especially to escape the barriers that lay in total darkness and follow a light that
will take them to a brighter life. Programs can be created to help promote education for girls. For
example, Mala Ziauddin created an organization called Mala Fund in which help improve girls
through education in developing countries.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge is what allow us to advance to a better successful life.
Yet knowledge should not be taken away or be limited in developing countries where girls suffer
the most. By having a girl not attaining to school and not being educate, she will not be able to
raise a healthy educate family, will not be able to make a difference in her community , and
decrease economy growth. However, if a change is made to break the cycle of girls not being
educate, girls around the world will be able to be educate. If girls stay in school and be educate,
they can live a happier life. That is why we need to make a change for all girls to have and earn
an education.

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Works Cited
Despoja Stott Natasha.Education Is a No Brainer for Girls." The Sydney Morning
Herald [Sydney, Australia] 1 July 2015: 19. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 Nov.
2016.
http://moodyap.pbworks.com/f/everythingchanged.pdf. Web. 3 Nov. 2016
Hart,Anne.TheFridayEverythingChange
Roselyne Sachiti. "Education for Girls, Women Leads to Development [analysis]." News
Service 12 May 2016: n. pag. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Wiley, Sean. "The Cost of Gender Inequality." Chicago Policy Review (Online) (2016)
ProQuest. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Yousafzai, Ziauddin. (2014, March). Ziauddin Yousafzai: My daughter, Mala [Video file].
Retrieved from Ted Talks.com