Importance of Life Skills Education among Adolescents

Page: 403-406
Pomi Mahanta, Sonia P. Deuri, and H. Sobhana (Department of Psychiatric Social Work, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health
(Govt. of India, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare), Tezpur, Assam)

Adolescence is a period of transition that bridges two important life stages-childhood and adulthood. It is a period of biological, psychological and social changes. Disturbed family dynamics, peer pressure, inability to cope with studies, drug abuse, lack of competence and social pressures can accentuate the stress levels of adolescents. Equipping adolescents with life skills can help them to cope with the problems more effectively. Life skills Education (LSE) is hardly given credence in the most of the regular school curriculum across India. Introduction of LSE will prevent adverse impacts of the various psychosocial problems of adolescents and also help in reducing their occurrence. The objective of this review paper is to understand life skills and explore the significance of LSE programme. Articles related to life skills and adolescents, implementation of LSE program and health promotion using life skills were searched. Search engines Pub Med, Science Direct, PsychInfo, Research Gate were used to extract related articles. Relevant article were collected and reviewed. Results: Life skills have significant impact in the overall development of the adolescents. LSE helps adolescents for better adjustment with teachers and peers and increased coping, self esteem and pro-social behaviour. Introducing life skills in the early stage of adolescence will aid in the development of better psychosocial competence and skills. Introduction of LSE programme as a part of School Mental Health Program (SMHP) needs to be emphasized. It should also be included in the curriculum from the primary to higher secondary levels.