For those of you that have daughters – keep them away from these people.

I started Girl Security in 2016 to empower girls, from kindergarten through 12th grade, across the United States in national security. Responsibly empowering girls demands a robust approach. First, it requires that we — as an organization — make the case to girls that their engagement with national security matters during a period in which the field is assessing why it hasn’t sufficiently valued women, who represent more than half the U.S. population. Next, it requires us to forge a model that empowers every girl to engage with national security, first, and then advances those girls interested in national security through college to career. This requires public education, and not just for girls, but for schools, communities and families. While “security” as a condition is very personal, “national security” remains a foreign concept to many despite its regular appearance in headlines. Lastly, it requires, well, girls. Engaging girls requires that national security be somehow accessible to them. To do so, we must understand how girls think about security, and this begins with two simple questions: “What does national security mean to you?” and “How do you personally experience security?

2nd Lt. Ashley Bowen, cyber-warfare officer, 127th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, assists girls during a binary code exercise at Wichita Area Technical College, Jan. 26. Bowen helped teach a class on cyber technology as part of curriculum required for the Girl Scout’s new cyber badges. The class was designed to reinforce the concepts that the girls had been studying. (Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Matt McCoy)