Some statistics from SchoolGirls

* By high school, nearly half of the boys say they are "happy the way I am," as opposed to less than a third of the girls. Boys are also far more likely than girls to reject negative characterizations such as "I wish I were somebody else" and "I don't like myself."

* Two-thirds of girls have a negative body image. Girls with a negative body image are more likely to suffer from depression and to develop eating disorders. Teenage girls are twice as likely as boys to say they feel sad and hopeless, and four to five times more likely to attempt suicide.

* The number of girls under the age of twelve seeking help for severe eating disorders doubled in the late 1980s. Up to 40% of nine-year-olds today are dieting.

* Up to 55% of middle and junior high school students have had sexual intercourse. Girls who have sex as young teenagers regret their decision at twice the rate of boys. Young sexually active girls have lower self-esteem than their non-active counterparts, but boys show no such difference.

* Physically active girls have higher self-esteem than their non-active counterparts. Yet when sports activities are coed -- such as in school gym class -- girls' confidence in their athletic abilities plummets.

* 85% of girls say they are sexually harassed at school; one third of girls who have been harassed report not wanting to go to school because of the harassment; one third of harassed girls say they do not want to speak up in class because of harassment. More than half of students who are harassed say the incidents occur during class.

Excerpted from Schoolgirls © Copyright 2012 by Peggy Orenstein. Reprinted with permission by Anchor. All rights reserved.