Historically at 8 or 9 years old we begin to consciously develop our own value system based on examples in our lives and a growing sense of cause and effect. Our endless curiosity expands our understanding of the world and we start to pursue individual interests.

In the last 40-50 years we have eroded this critical psycho-social development by putting all of our focus as a society on the end result at the expense of the means. Feelings have overtaken values.

We have become dependent on test scores as a reflection of intelligence so we teach to the test instead of teaching how to learn. We teach children what to think and devalue their natural curiosity by putting “knowledge” ahead of understanding. We teach children that they can be anything, do anything and change the world but then we do everything for them – diminishing their trust in us and themselves.

The women who changed the world didn’t set out to change the world. They identified their passion, pursued their passion and that’s how the world got changed.

We have a society of young people who have been conditioned to look outwards for positive reinforcement with a near absent sense of cause and effect. Their sense of self and what they feel is tied to external factors and they are answerable only to their feelings. Their value system is about immediate reward, recognition, attention, importance, having a platform and making an impact but there is little lasting fulfillment.

This external locus of control can be very dangerous. We have inadvertently diminished our children’s resilience and when the positive feedback ends, through no fault of their own, our children look outwards for relief. This is a crisis. It must stop. The S.E.W Project.

The Earhart Club through inspiring curiosity and understanding puts girls in touch with their own unique voice and their individual interests and passions. The Earhart Club helps girls to develop a value system that forms the foundation of who they are, the bedrock of their decision-making and the pathway to belonging and changing the world around them.

Changing the world doesn’t have to mean being the first woman to Mars or the first female President of the United States. Changing the world can be recognizing the new girl at school in the cafeteria and approaching her and asking her name, where she’s from and would she like to come and meet your friends.