Life skills are essentially those abilities that help promote mental well-being and
competence in young people as they face the realities of life. Most development
professionals agree that life skills are generally applied in the context of health and
social events. They can be utilized in many content areas: prevention of drug use,
sexual violence, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS prevention and suicide prevention.
The definition extends into consumer education, environmental education, peace
education or education for development, livelihood and income generation, among
others. In short, life skills empower young people to take positive action to protect
themselves and promote health and positive social relationships.
Self-awareness, self-esteem and self-confidence are essential tools for understanding
one’s strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, the individual is able to discern
available opportunities and prepare to face possible threats. This leads to the
development of a social awareness of the concerns of one’s family and society.
Subsequently, it is possible to identify problems that arise within both the family and
society.
With life skills, one is able to explore alternatives, weigh pros and cons and make
rational decisions in solving each problem or issue as it arises. It also entails being
able to establish productive interpersonal relationships with others.
Life skills enable effective communication, for example, being able to differentiate
between hearing and listening and ensuring that messages are transmitted accurately
to avoid miscommunication and misinterpretations.
Arti Sharma
asa.sns@dbntrust.in
Life skill:
Life
skill is the basic skill that is acquired through learning and from our
day by day life experiences that enable us to effectively handle so
many problems which we face in our daily life.
Our day to day life have so many challenges which include creativity,
critical thinking, decision making, ability to communicate and analyses
the things more better way.
Life skill helps an individual to develop self-confidence and successfully deal with significant life challenges.
Life skill helps us to live a better and managed quality of life. It
helps us to accomplish our ambition. However the most important life
skill is the ability and willingness to learn new things. If we learn
new skills we understand the world and equip ourselves with new tools to
cope up with new challenges that life throws in front of us in every
walk of life.
With Regards
Komal Bali
kbi.mm@dbntrust.in