This movie’s ongoing popularity can be attributed to the fact everyone has known a mean girl at some point in her life. And I assure you, if your child is school-aged, she has already met one too.

Mean girls are bullies. They form cliques. They don’t include those who feel left out and are preoccupied with their own popularity and power among their peers. No one intentionally raises a mean girl, but if you want to make sure you raise a girl who is kind, you have to be intentional about it.

Mean girls are mean girls typically for two reasons: jealousy and insecurity. The better you can equip your daughter to cope with these feelings, the more likely you are to raise a kind girl rather than a mean girl.
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‍Jealousy

The overwhelming majority of girls who hurt others do so because they are jealous of them. A girl may feel threatened by another’s figure, attractiveness, popularity, talents, intelligence, or a hundred other things. Jealousy is one of the most toxic feelings a human being can have, and when it rests in the heart of an immature, self-centered girl, trouble appears.

A girl’s knee-jerk reaction to jealousy is…