November 3, 2016

Dear Future President,

I believe that the United States government should support the education of girls all over the world. There are many things holding girls back from getting the education that they so desperately need. There are many benefits of girls having an education but there are many factors that prevent the education of girls all over the world. I believe that the United States government should support the education of girls all over the world because it would end child marriage, help the economy, and end poverty.

There are many barriers between girls and receiving a good education. One of the problems in society is that women have been looked down upon in society and it is a social norm to want to give boys a better education. This works to the girls' disadvantage because they should be given the same education no matter how many social norms need to be updated. The second problem is that girls, in places like Africa and Asia, usually get married before they turn 18 years old. Exactly ⅓ of the girls in developing countries are married before the age of 18. Women have a low status in society and are not valued at times even in the US. When I was in 7th grade, a teacher would always come into my science class asking for “any strong boys willing to help” and I felt very looked down upon and less than boys. I was just as strong as the boys, but even the teachers were implying that boys are stronger than girls. There are many barriers between girls and equal opportunity.

Although many people in developing nations think that educating girls is not a real issue because they only value educated men, there are many benefits for having educated girls in a nation. One of the benefits of educating girls is that it will enable better healthcare for them and education for their children. Another good thing that would result from educating women is that they will be able to support themselves. Educating girls will eventually lead to changing a woman’s value in the community and will eliminate child marriage. Education will also reduce poverty worldwide because women can get good jobs because of their good education and maybe help their husbands with expenses. Overall, there are many benefits of having educated girls in a nation.

There are many people that would disagree with what I said in this letter. The Taliban does not allow women to be educated past the age of 8. How are women supposed to support themselves if they have the education of an 8 year old their whole lives? Women would have probably done something about it by now but the Taliban is not afraid to kill women for defending their rights. One example of this was Malala’s shooting. She got shot in the side of her head for just going to school. Thankfully she survived, but many girls have been shot did not survive and their stories are not known at all. Another thing that people are saying is that boys will not like educated women and they want to be more educated than their partner. This is one of the things that holds girls back in areas where girls are allowed to go to school. I think it is important to let girls know that it is amazing to be smart and not have to depend on a man. Maybe you could start a campaign to inspire girls to get the best education they can. The way I look at it is that I am getting an education for all the girls in the world who can’t.

Overall, I strongly believe that the United States government should support the education of girls all over the world. Women have come so far in the past 100 years and we need education for girls everywhere. Imagine what would happen if every girl in every country was educated. What ideas would they have, what problems could be solved? There is probably a woman out there stronger and smarter than any man ever, but she may never have a chance to show her knowledge because she will probably never get the chance. That is why I urge you to support giving girls all over the world the education they deserve.

Thank you so much for reading my letter,

Olivia D. 

Works Cited

“Girls' Education and Gender Equality.” UNICEF, UNICEF, 23 July 2013, www.unicef.org/education/bege_70640.html.

“Girls' Education Overview.” Girls' Education Overview, The World Bank, 2016, www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation/overview#1.

“Social, Economic Barriers to Educating African Girls.” All Things Considered, Aug. 2006, Student Resources in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/audiodetailspage/audiodetailswindow?disablehighlighting=false&displaygroupname=audio&currpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=suic&search_within_results=&p=suic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|a158982087&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=tel_k_farrhs&jsid=48c17d7db4e867ba12be19747b3c8a0f.