Mean girls: they’re a thing, and sometimes it’s *our* girls being the bullies. Experts agree that girls exhibit “relational aggression” more than boys do, and girls are also more deeply upset by it. Even more worrisome: mean-girl behavior used to start in junior high; now it starts in pre-K. Fear not: we’ve got tons of useful advice in this episode, particularly in our interview with Katie Hurley, author of the just-published book No More Mean Girls: The Secret to Raising Strong, Confident, and Compassionate Girls. There is hope! As Katie explained: “Our daughters are not destined to repeat the things that happened to us… especially if we are talking to them about being empathic and being compassionate.” Start sooner than you think: Katie says the sweet spot for impacting your girl’s friendship skills is ages 8-10. Here’s links to some other research and resources discussed in this episode: A Way Through, a site created by female friendship experts Jane Balvanz and Blair Wagner, helps girls in grades K – 8 through painful friendships Kelly Wallace for CNN: How Not to Raise a Mean Girl Our sponsor this week is Erin Condren, creator of the fully customizable Life Planner. Choose your layouts, your extra pages, your colors, your cover. We love the look of everything this mom-owned business makes and we think you will too. Start designing your planner– and support our podcast at the same time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices