Two in three Georgia high school girls lack a caring adult to talk to about their feelings, even as 90 percent graduate high school on time.
The findings are part of the 2026 State of the Georgia Girl Report, commissioned by Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta and Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, released Oct. 9 in Atlanta, ahead of International Day of the Girl on Oct. 11. The report examines girls’ physical, digital, emotional, academic and social well-being to help families, educators and policymakers better understand their needs.
For Jai Ferrell, CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, the numbers highlight a troubling disconnect between girls’ achievements and their experiences outside the classroom.
“Georgia girls are the most ambitious, they are the most high achieving, but they are lonely,” Ferrell said in an interview. She said the findings strengthened her sense of responsibility to help girls find community and meaningful relationships.
“In our desire to become more connective, we decommissioned community and replaced it with digital,” Ferrell said.
The report found that 90 percent of Georgia girls in the class of 2025 graduated high school within four years, five percentage points higher than boys. Fifty-nine percent of those female graduates enrolled in a college education program within 16 months of graduating.
But achievement is unfolding alongside significant mental health challenges. According to the Georgia Department of Education’s 2023-24 Georgia Student Health Survey, 58 percent of girls in middle and high school experienced symptoms of depression in the past 30 days, compared with 39 percent of boys. Half of Georgia elementary school girls also reported feeling left out by their peers.
Jenn Hollern, owner of FORGE 4082 Consulting and author of the report, said loneliness can begin well before adolescence and continue as girls grow older.
“The most protective response to the loneliness epidemic in America right now is not more programming, not necessarily more screens,” Hollern said. “It is a room full of girls who agree in advance to make each other feel welcomed.”
The report found that 89 percent of Georgia Girl Scouts said they find that sense of welcome in the organization. The same percentage said their troop leader cares about them as a person.
During a panel discussion accompanying the report’s release, community leaders and experts discussed how to turn the findings into action.
Ilham Askia, president and CEO of the East Lake Foundation, reflected on the importance of supportive adults in girls’ lives, including people outside their immediate families. Recalling the influence of her grandmother, she said, “You never know where they come from,” referring to the people who help guide and support young people.
Elena Parent, a state senator representing District 44, emphasized the need for stronger data collection to guide state decisions.
“How do you drive a policy decision without full data? You really can’t do it,” Parent said.
Dr. Reneathia P. Baker, associate medical director of people and culture at Kaiser Permanente, said the report’s breakdown of data by race and income helps reveal differences that broad averages can obscure.
“When you look at girls in Georgia living below the poverty level, you will find that that seems to be improving until you start looking at, well, what’s happening with girls of color?” Baker said.
Three in five girls in Georgia are girls of color, according to the report. Black girls make up 31 percent of the state’s female youth population, more than twice their share nationally.
Jenay Sermon, owner and consultant at Learn Ubique LLC, said data should be accessible to the people working directly with young people.
“We are actually living the product of data every day,” Sermon said, adding that the question is “who’s collecting the data and for what reason?”
Ameya Agnihotri, a Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta alumna and Augusta University student, said she hopes girls can continue succeeding without sacrificing their well-being.
“I’d like to see our girls, of course, keep achieving how they’re achieving, but not [at] the cost of their mental health,” Agnihotri said.
For Ferrell, the findings are a call for adults to step in and help build the relationships girls need. At the report’s release, she described the data as a starting point for a broader effort to strengthen community and sisterhood.
“Our Georgia girls need us,” Ferrell said. “They need adults. They need champions, and they need big sisters.”
