Girls 8 to 17 are as concerned about emotional violence -- teasing, gossip and name-calling -- as they are about physical violence, from street and date violence to car accidents and war, a new Girl Scout Research Institute survey has found.

		Online chart: What scares girls most?

"A lot of people worry more about what other people will say to them rather than what they'll do to them," confirmed Christina Baldy, 17, of Monroeville, a senior at Gateway High School.

The institute surveyed 2,279 girls, only some of them Girl Scout members, in April, using a self-administered online questionnaire.

Among the survey's findings:

When asked what worried them the most, the No. 1 concern, noted by 32 percent of all girls responding, was being teased or made fun of.

Younger girls were more worried about emotional danger than older teens, especially being called names or being the target of gossip.

As they grow older, girls' concern for their physical safety, particularly in the areas of street violence, being forced into unwanted sexual activity or being involved in a car accident, grew.

While girls of all ages were aware of terrorism and the war in Iraq, only a fraction saw them as big threats to their safety.

"Girls actually stated that they recognized that the war is of concern, that it is definitely something real and serious," said Sharon Woods Hussey, a senior vice president of the national Girl Scouts organization. "[But] it's not something that concerns them in their immediate environment."

A much more immediate concern is being teased, judged, made fun of or even having to speak or participate in class.

Julie Richards, 10, of Penn Hills, said she sometimes worried about being ridiculedwhen she is at school or in classroom situations.

How does it make her feel when other girls are not so nice?

"Kind of sad," said Julie, who is a Girl Scout.

Baldy said she also is sometimes concerned about gossip or what others are saying about her.

"But at the same time I don't let it get to me at all," she said.

Baldy believes some of the anxiety girls have about being judged is tied to the cultural emphasis on how women and girls look.

"A lot of it has to do with magazines and what people see on television," Baldy said.

Erika Dauber, spokesperson for The Ophelia Project, an Erie-based organization that develops programs to reduce peer aggression and bullying, said much of the emotional insecurity has to do with wanting to fit in.

"[Everyone] wants to be affiliated with the popular girl," Dauber said.

When a girl is rejected and not allowed to be part of the popular crowd or is teased about how she looks, it can be emotionally devastating.

"It's cross-cultural because every girl and basically every kid needs to feel safe," Dauber said.

It doesn't surprise her that the middle and junior high girls were more concerned about these emotional assaults than were older girls.

"This is when you have girls that are beginning to go through puberty, all these changes that happen in adolescence. They're feeling insecure anyway and they have an intense longing to affiliate," Dauber said.

The survey suggests that rural girls are more concerned about emotional safety, while suburban and urban girls worry more about physical safety.

Overall, 28 percent of the girls surveyed were concerned about being attacked with a weapon, 26 percent were worried about being kidnapped and 24 percent feared being forced to do something sexual.

Lauren Richards, a seventh-grader from Penn Hills and Julie's sister, said her environment is pretty safe, but she sometimes worries about physical safety.

"When we walk home, we walk alone," said Lauren, 12. She fears that she and her sister might encounter someone along their route who they don't know.

Julie's greatest fear is "getting stolen," she said, "because there's a lot of stuff going on in the world."

Feeling unsafe, physically, emotionally, or both, had a negative impact on other aspects of the lives of the girls surveyed.

"They were more likely to get involved in unsafe activities, drug and alcohol use," Hussey said. "They were quick to undertake coping mechanisms that would isolate them," such as using the Internet or watching TV.

Girls also do less well in school when they don't feel emotionally or physically safe, she said.

The study showed that parents or some other trusted adults were very important to the girls' emotional well-being. Girls who identified themselves as feeling generally safe also could name at least three adults that they could trust and turn to.

Of those surveyed, however, 25 percent said they didn't have three adults they had a safe and secure relationship with.

One of the situations in which girls expressed concerns about being teased or bullied was in classroom settings. Hussey said that was certainly something the Girl Scouts could address through programming.

"We're very much interested in research such as this going from research to action to new activities that will address physical and emotional safety," Hussey said.