The Benefits of Teaching Teens Social and Life Skills

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Teaching teens social and life skills has a significant impact on their success in several sectors. By imparting the useful skills of social interaction and life preparedness, parents can help teens build successful communication skills and manage their emotions. Well-honed social and life skills can assist teens in navigating family and peer relationships, and school situations.

Improving Family Interactions

Teens whose parents model social skills are better able to contribute to family life positively. When they have learned and practiced constructs for effective communication, teens are better able to respond appropriately to, and compromise with, family members. Social skills coaching will help teens with the following skills:

• Assisting in the creation of effective rules and boundaries for behavior
• Accepting redirection, criticism, or unfavorable decisions
• Phrasing criticism so as not to alienate family members
• Negotiating for privileges or revised rules as appropriate
• Contributing to the smooth running of a household through timely communication of needs
• Building awareness of and consideration for other members of the household

Cultivating Healthy Peer Relationships

The same skills that leaven family communication will also impact a teen's relationships with classmates and friends. Since teen relationships are so reliant upon social cues and behaviors, teens who master these skills by learning to read and react to others will enjoy greater success in negotiating these complicated relationships. Teens who get explicit instruction in social skills are better prepared for:

• Understanding norms for a variety of social situations
• Taking turns in conversation and showing appropriate interest in peers
• Showing respect and appreciation for differences among peers
• Negotiating potentially harmful situations and resisting peer pressure
• Responding directly and kindly to criticism or negative treatment
• Choosing methods for speedy conflict resolution and compromise

Enhancing Classroom Performance

Students who receive training in social and life skills are better prepared for success in the classroom. A classroom has its own set of rather complicated social constructs, which can be difficult for some students to grasp. With specific guidance in this area, teens can flourish in the classroom. These skills allow students to attain success in the following areas:

• Following instructions or rules presented in a variety of formats
• Asking for clarification or help as needed, using appropriate tone, word choice, and vocabulary
• Managing multiple deadlines or assignments
• Interacting with peers to attain a collective academic goal
• Ignoring distractions commonly found in a typical classroom
• Cultivating effective anger management strategies
• Resolving disagreements and conflicts with minimal adult intervention

It is important to teach teens the social and life skills they need to negotiate through their increasingly more complicated world. Teens who are equipped with these skills will experience greater success in their family, social, and academic lives.