Life Skills Training Archives

michaelAugust 27, 2019comment (0)

How Can Life Skills Training Programs Can Help Prevent Drug Addiction?

Drug and alcohol addiction among teens and adolescents is one of the major problems affecting communities and countries around the world. The drug problem has been growing since the sixties and has now come to a head with the invention and promulgation of life-threatening products such as fentanyl, which are many times as addictive (and potentially lethal) as heroin.

However, keeping youngsters away from drugs is no easy task. Communities, government agencies, and educational institutions have been trying to do so for decades, with varying degrees of success. While the overall rates of drug intake and alcohol consumption have gone down over the years in most parts of the country, individual communities are still plagued by the problem of substance abuse, particularly among the youth.

Reasons for Drug Intake and Addiction

In order to effectively curb the phenomenon of drug addiction among the youth, educators and authorities must first understand the reasons for substance abuse, including alcoholism, opioid addiction, and marijuana usage etc. Some of the major reasons why large numbers of teenagers and young adults often feel compelled to use drugs are driven primarily by the fact that they lack the proper life skill training:

Peer Pressure

Human beings are tribal by nature and we all want to feel a sense of belonging with our families, friends, and communities. This desire for belonging is especially strong during the teenage years, when kids are yet to fully understand and accept their own individual identities. At this time, they are especially vulnerable to the influence of the peer group, and the fear of rejection can be debilitating.

Many teenagers, therefore, end up taking drugs just because their friends tell them to. They don’t want to feel left out and alone, and in their minds, the only alternative is to succumb to the demands of substance abuse. Drinking and doing drugs is common among certain groups of young adults, and embers of such groups may feel that they cannot say no to drugs without losing their friends.

Stress

The teenage years can be stressful and anxiety-inducing. This is because teenagers have to deal with academic pressure, the onslaught of hormones, social responsibilities, love and heartbreak, and the expectations of parents and teachers, all at the same time. This is particularly the case once they enter high-school and are told to start thinking about their career.

All of this can often feel like too much, especially for children who had, until then, lived a relatively stable and sheltered life. When stress and anxiety is overwhelming, the appeal of substance abuse is immense.

Alcohol can help you get rid of your inhibitions for a time and do as you please, while opioids can be used to dull the anxiety and feel a sense of peace for a little while. Many young people succumb to such addictions just to temporarily escape the pain of growing up, and the expectations levied upon them by society.

Media Representation

Movies, TV shows, and music can often depict substance abuse as a sign of status and even ‘coolness’. And there are nothing teenagers want more than to be perceived as being ‘cool’ and interesting. Alcohol companies understand this, and promote their product accordingly, a tactic that was also used by tobacco manufacturers a few decades ago.

Growing up under the influence of pop culture, children often internalize these messages (if only on a subconscious level). They are later drawn to the mystique and allure of substance abuse as they reach teenage because for their entire lives they had been receiving the subliminal message from a variety of media outlets, that drinking and doing drugs is ‘cool’. After years of subtle indoctrination via pop culture, this perception can be hard to break.

The Role of Life Skills Training

Life skills training, delivered by trained personnel through well-designed drug-prevention programs, can help youngsters break this self-destructive cycle of substance abuse. Life-skills training helps adolescents understand the dangers of substance abuse and its long-term consequences. Moreover, it also helps them understand how to handle situations effectively and safely without succumbing to the allure of drugs and alcohol.

Some core elements of an effective life skills training program are:

Drug Resistance: During a life-skills training program, youngsters are taught how to avoid any social pressure or internal desire for alcohol or drug intake. They are taught how to safely extricate themselves from situations wherein they might be compelled to take drugs or other restricted substances.
Decision Making: Under such programs, adolescents are also trained to critically evaluate a situation and make effective decisions in a thoughtful and independent manner, without being influenced by external factors such as the opinions of friends and misleading media representation.
Self Management: Life skills training programs help children learn how to manage their own emotions, both positive and negative. They are taught how to deal with stress, anxiety, loneliness, and social rejection in a healthy and productive manner, without resorting to self-destructive behavior of any kind.

In Conclusion

A well-designed and high-quality life skills training program can help teenagers and adolescents avoid the pitfalls of substance abuse and avoid addiction in the long run. Schools, communities, and local governments should come together to ensure that all the children of the area receive this essential training from a young age.

michaelMarch 22, 2019comment (0)

How a Life Skills Training Program Can Help Kids Say No to Drugs

Substance abuse and drug addiction are a major problem plaguing societies around the world. While this problem affects all sections of society to an extent, young people such as teenagers and young adults are particularly susceptible to the lure of substance abuse. There are many reasons why age-restricted and illicit substances such as alcohol, opioids, and cigarettes have such an attraction for young people. These substances provide a sense of adventure and rebellion, helping them stand out while at the same time prompting acceptance and admiration from their peers.

Young people, such as middle and high schoolers and college freshmen, crave the acceptance of their friends and peers and dread being rejected. This makes teenagers especially vulnerable to peer-pressure induced substance abuse. Partying and nights out are a part of youth culture and they can often lead youngsters to consume intoxicating or addictive substances in order to appear cool and interesting to their friends. This can create a pernicious circle of peer pressure, substance abuse, and addiction, which can prove almost impossible for a young person to get out of.

The Role of Life Skills Training Programs

For these reasons, communities and educational institutions should ensure that teenagers receive high-quality life skills training at school. A good life skills training program can have a profound and positive impact on the future of these teenagers, by helping them say no to drugs and escape the peer pressure that might otherwise ruin their lives. A school-based life skills training program can also help teenagers and adolescents learn essential coping mechanisms and social skills early in life, which would, in turn, help them succeed in other areas of their life such as in their future jobs and relationships.

The Social Context of Drug Abuse

Like most social issues, substance abuse is not a problem that exists in a vacuum. There are very real social and psychological factors that cause youngsters to resort to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism. Some of these include dysfunctional family dynamics, toxic friend circles, and the inability to deal with academic stress. Social isolation and the rejection of friends and peers may also lead teenagers to try drugs, either as a way to gain acceptance or as an escape route to cope with the stress and anxiety caused by these issues.

Another major social risk factor when it comes to the use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco among adolescents is the influence of mass media. Movies, television shows, and commercials often tend to depict substance abuse as cool, interesting, or even a harmless way to have fun. This can cause children to use drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol due to their desire to emulate their celebrity role models or favorite movie characters. Without the proper education and training, youngsters may never learn how to critically evaluate and interpret the harmful messages disseminated by mass media.

Elements of a Good Life Skills Training Program

There are three major elements or components of a life skills training program, namely resistance skills, self-management skills, and social skills. All three together can go a long way in helping adolescents say no to drugs and thereby avoid addiction.

Resistance Skills

Drug resistance skills are integral to any life skills training program geared towards reducing the incidence of substance abuse among teenagers and adolescents. Drug resistance skills help youngsters to understand and critically analyze the social influences that might prompt them to use age-restricted or addictive substances. Students are encouraged to understand the possible long-term consequences of drug and alcohol consumption, which would then motivate them to push back against peer pressure.

The young adults are also taught ways and techniques to avoid drugs and stay away from situations which might lead to substance abuse. This involves teaching adolescents how to refuse drugs or alcohol offered by their friends and peers, without compromising their own safety or risking physical harm.

Self-Management Skills

Self-management skills are very important because they help youngsters learn to cope with the complexities and problems of life in a healthy and safe manner, without resorting to self-destructive behavior and drug abuse. Academic stress, relationship problems, and social isolation are some of the chief reasons why adolescents resort to substance abuse.

Growing up can be hard, and teenage is a challenging phase of life for most people. Therefore, adolescents facing these challenges must be taught the necessary decision making, problem-solving, goal-setting, and critical thinking skills that will help them deal with their negative emotions in a productive, healthy, and safe manner.

Social Skills

The importance of social skills is often underestimated in relation to the effect it can have on substance abuse. Social skills are important because they help young people form healthy and mutually supportive interpersonal relationships while avoiding friendships that are toxic, abusive, or codependent.

When students learn effective social skills in a life skills training program at school, they can communicate clearly and effectively when they need help, hold deep and meaningful conversations to avoid loneliness and isolation, and also assertively refuse unreasonable requests and stand up for their beliefs. This can make them much less vulnerable to peer pressure, thus helping them stay away from drugs and alcohol.

In Conclusion

Mentioned above are some of the ways in which a school-based life skills training program can help adolescents and teenagers say no to drugs, alcohol, and other types of addictive substances. Therefore, communities and educational institutions should work together to incorporate a life skills training program within the curriculum of every school, to ensure that future generations can be free of the bane of addiction and substance abuse.

michaelJanuary 2, 2019comment (0)

Key Life and Healthy Living Skills Children Must Be Taught At School

“In a constantly changing environment, having life skills is an essential part of being able to meet the challenges of everyday life,” Macmillan Education.

The physical, intellectual, emotional, and social capabilities of adolescents are very high. Despite that, the children fail to utilize these capabilities to their maximum potential due to several reasons. Children face many issues such as poverty, bullying, depression, drug abuse, alcoholism, sexual abuse, and many more, that can inhibit their capability of learning core healthy living skills and can have an adverse effect on them.

In a data and technology-driven world, educators put most of the focus on developing a comprehensive STEM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum so that it can prepare the students for their courses and also help them pursue promising careers in the future. However, healthy living skills also play a major role in the overall development of a young adult.

Life skill education trains the students to make wise and good decisions and solve problems in their academic as well as professional lives. Therefore, it plays a critical role in the overall education and development of a child. Researchers have found that a quality life skills education program bridges the gap between a person’s capabilities and performance. This, in turn, helps the individual to meet the demands and needs of the society and his/her personal life.

What is Healthy Living Skills Education?

Life skills, or healthy living skills, can be considered as the building blocks that enable a student to apply the knowledge that he/she gained in school, to real-life situations and problems. Basically, life-skills training equips a student with the ability to approach an issue from different angles for finding a solution. Apart from practical problems solving skills, healthy life-skills education also teaches a young adult on how to communicate effectively with juniors, peers, and adults. Therefore, this knowledge is as important as academic knowledge, which is why all schools must introduce healthy life-skills education in their curriculum.

Life skills are not just restricted to impressing a potential employer or choosing what you want to major in. It goes well beyond that as it equips children to be independent thinkers and survivors. It helps them to socialize, make friends, and take practical decisions to resolve or escape any trouble or dangerous situations, even when teachers or parents are not around to intervene or help. Some examples of essential life-skills include:

Decision-Making Skills: In a comprehensive healthy life-skills education program, students learn how to assesses a risky situation and follow a systematic process of decision making in order to mitigate the danger or escape it altogether.

Drug Resistance Skills: It has been seen that most adolescent school students are pressurized into taking the drug by their peers in an attempt to “fit in” or be a part of the cool kids’ group. While learning drug resistance skills, the young adults are taught how to avoid, refuse, and leave a situation where they are being pressurized into using drugs or alcohol.

General Social Skills: In here the students learn how to communicate effectively in order to avoid misunderstandings, and also how to acquire help from their neighbors and community when needed.

Self-Management Skills: As we grow up, our anxiety and stress increase due to the various pressures of life. Young adults, who would have to step into such real-life situations in a few years, must be taught how to cope with and manage anxiety and stress, personal and professional challenges, and effectively manage their emotions. All of these fall within the purview of self-management.

Critical Thinking Skills: This is one of the most important life-skills all students must learn. Critical thinking skills help a person to go in depth and analyze a situation or impulse to determine its veracity and long-term consequences. This particular healthy living skill helps adolescents challenge common misconceptions regarding alcohol, drug, and tobacco use and how media portrays them to the consumers.

Benefits of Healthy Living Skills Education in School

Given that children spend a majority of their time at school for many years of their life, every school must introduce a healthy living skills program along with the regular academic curriculum. This training, over time, will help young adults develop sound decision-making skills along with good habits for long-term stability, success, and well-being.

Teachers can employ different activities that can be used to impart life-skills training to the students. Some of the activities that can be undertaken in the classroom are:

Brainstorming:
This activity enables the students to think spontaneously and quickly to come up with ideas. Students must be presented with situations that demand them to think creative and out-of-the-box. Once the students present their ideas on how to manage a situation, the class as a whole can discuss the pros and cons of the solution, to make improvements and verify how viable it is.
Discussions:
Classroom discussions help students to bond with each other and practice working together as a team to solve problems. This helps in students learning critical thinking skills, to thoroughly and independently analyze and understand a topic and its related issues.
Role Playing:
Role playing is an activity that offers two benefits rolled into one. It is a fun activity for the students to partake in and an excellent way to practice the life-skills they learned in class. Role playing can help the students handle potential real-life situations, feel empathy for others, and get an in-depth look into their own feelings in a safe environment among peers and friends.

In Conclusion

Healthy life-skills education is a core component of a student’s overall education and holistic learning, as it helps them acquire reasoning and problem-solving abilities for real-world situations. To provide an adolescent with a well-rounded education, schools must incorporate quality life-skills training programs in the classes from a young age onwards.

michaelDecember 31, 2018comment (0)

The Role of Life Skills Training in Substance Abuse Prevention Programs

Substance abuse is one of the major societal problems currently affecting many communities, families, and individuals around the world. In 2013, over nine percent of the American population had used some type of illicit drug in the past month. The numbers have only increased over time, making this a serious societal crisis.

Teenagers and young adults are the most at risk of being lured into the world of drug and alcohol abuse, as they tend to be more carefree and thrill-seeking than an average adult. They also have relatively less life experience, which means that they are often unable to comprehend the negative consequences of drug use until it is too late.

An Overview of Substance Abuse

Moreover, the phenomenon of substance abuse is not limited to the use of hard drugs alone. The excessive use of addictive substances such as opioids, OTC drugs, tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana also falls within the ambit of substance abuse. This types of addiction can have a negative effect not only on the individual but also on their family, community, and social circle as a whole.

Tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, as well as opioids and stimulants of various kinds, can affect the mental and physical health of an individual. These substances, being highly addictive, can also ruin a person physically, emotionally, and financially. Due to these reasons, schools, colleges, health centers, and communities must work together to ensure that teenagers and young adults are made aware of the dangers of substance abuse, and its potential consequences, as soon as possible.

Substance Abuse Among Teenagers and Adolescents

Teenagers and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the allure of addictive substances for many reasons. Moreover, as the teenage brain is still developing, drug use can have long-term behavioral and cognitive effects on adolescents. As of 2017, 16.6 percent of 12th graders have engaged in binge drinking and more than 10 percent have used traditional tobacco products such as hookah and cigarettes.

Some of the reasons why adolescents are more likely to consume illicit or addictive substances have been listed below:

Curiosity: Being younger, adolescents typically have less life experience and therefore have a greater amount of curiosity and naivety. They are curious about the world and are eager to try new things. They are also relatively unaware of the potential negative consequences of addiction and its associated problems. This is one of the major reasons why they can be easily lured into trying drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and addictive substances.
Peer Pressure: Adolescents crave acceptance and camaraderie within their peer group and are therefore more susceptible to the effects of peer pressure than adults. As a result, they may try drugs or alcohol just to impress their friends or avoid rejection, even when they do not personally enjoy the experience. Therefore, adolescents, who are surrounded by addicts, are more likely to succumb to peer pressure and try drugs and alcohol themselves.
Stress: The world is full of potential sources of stress and many adolescents have not yet developed the coping mechanisms to deal with stress in a healthy and productive manner. Stress caused by studies, exams, school, and relationships can all drive adolescents to try and seek relief in the form of drugs, alcohol, opioids, etc. Therefore, youngsters must be taught early on to effectively manage their emotions, in order to avoid such an outcome.

Life Skills Training for Substance Abuse Prevention

The above-mentioned facts and figures are some of the reasons why life skills training are such an important part of any credible substance abuse prevention program. Children, adolescents, and young adults need to be taught the essential skills needed for dealing with the problems and adversities of life in a healthy and productive manner, without resorting to drugs and alcohol as a crutch in times of hardship. Thus, life skills training can go a long way in helping youngsters deal with the aforementioned issues while avoiding destructive behavior like substance abuse.

Some of the core life skills taught to students at a good substance abuse prevention program include:

Resistance: Adolescents and young adults need to be taught the necessary skills needed for resisting the efforts and encouragement of their peers to make them use addictive substances. They need to be taught how to avoid such situations where they are pressurized to consume drugs or alcohol. They must also learn how to deal with such situations if they do happen to be caught up in them for some reason, in the absence of an adult or teacher.
Decision making: Teenagers need to be taught how to make crucial decisions within a short period of time, under stressful and dangerous circumstances. They have to learn how to weigh the pros and cons of every available option before making the choice that will be the most beneficial for them in the long term. This skill will help them say no to drugs even when it offers an easy short-term solution to their problems.
Self-management: A good life skills training program must teach students how to manage feelings of stress, anxiety, loneliness, rejection, and alienation. Such feelings are not uncommon during the teenage years and may drive adolescents to consume drugs and alcohol if they are not properly managed and channeled in the right direction.
Social Communication: Social and effective communication skills are essential for communicating in an effective manner and avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings. Effective communication and social skills can also help at-risk adolescents seek the necessary support and help from their community, that they need to lead a healthy and addiction-free life. Youngsters can also use their communication skills to share their feelings of loneliness, stress, and isolation with friends and loved ones.

In Conclusion:

These are just some of the reasons why life skills training is an essential part of most substance abuse prevention programs. Teachers and counselors must understand the role played by life skills training programs, in order to use them for the benefit of the students.