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Promotion Of Life Skills - MyElimu - 12-04-2017 CIVICS NOTES FORM ONE PROMOTION OF LIFE SKILLS Meaning and types of life skills    Skills are the ability that a person has to do something well. Life skills, therefore are the abilities a person has to live well in the society. Also, life skills enable a person to know what to do at certain times and what not to do. Types of life skills There are three major types of life skills, namely Individual life skills These skills enable individuals to understand themselves in various ways. People are able to understand their strengths and weaknesses, how they think and feel and how they express their thought and feelings. Individual life skills include the following: [list=circle] [*]Self-Awareness, this is the ability to know something. Thus, self-awareness is the ability of an individual to know himself or herself, his or her feelings, emotions, strengths and weaknesses [*]Coping with stress, Stress by definition is the mental, emotional or physical tension or pressure. It can be caused by events such as examinations, divorce, the death of a family member or a close friend or problems in the family. A person needs to develop skills that help him or her to cope with stress [*]Assertiveness is the ability of a person to know what he or she wants and why, and be able to take necessary steps to achieve it. An assertive person is able to express his or her opinions or desire strongly and with confidence. [/list] Social skills This is the ability to understand and live in a peace and harmony with others. Social skills give an individual the knowledge and ability to live according to standards of a society. Some aspects of social skills are; [list=circle] [*]Forming healthy relationships, Relationships refer to the way people interact and behave towards each other. Relationships can be between children and parents or students and teachers. They can also be among relatives, neighbors or peers. A healthy relationship has a positive effect on person`s life. [*]Forming friendships, this is the ability of an individual to make friends with people whom he or she can share activities, ideas, joy, and sadness. This life skill enables an individual to form bonds with people and thus prevent loneliness. [*]Peer pressure comes about when one`s friends influence him or her to do something. Our friends influence us to do good or bad things, for stance positive peer pressure can lead you to work harder in school and improve your grade. Negative peer pressure can cause you to indulge in wrong activities such as drug-taking or running away from school. Peer resistance helps an individual take control of his or her life by resisting negative influence from others. [*]Empathy, this is the ability to understand others people`s feelings and to feel concerned about their problems. When you emphasize, you imagine yourself in other person`s situation. This skill enables us to share our friend`s problems [*]Negotiation, this is the ability to agree on issues without undermining or going one`s principles. It is an important skill when disagreements occur. Negotiation skill builds well to understand. [*]Effective communication, this is the ability of a person to communicate with people according to their mood, age, and background. It includes speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. This skill is very important in maintaining good relationships with other people. Speaking correctly means saying what you want in a way that can be easily and clearly understood. [/list]   Effective decision-making skills These skills enable a person to make a good decision. The following are the aspects of effective decision-making skill; [list=circle] [*]Critical thinking [/list] This is the ability of a person to develop a deep understanding of something. It helps a person to understand the environment in which he or she lives and the problems which might prevent him or her from making a proper decision. Before making a decision, a critical thinker considers the advantages and disadvantages of various ways of doing something. [list=circle] [*]Creative thinking [/list] This is the ability to think and come up with new ideas and new ways of doing things. In life, creative thinking helps an individual to come up with solutions that other people had not thought of. [list=circle] [*]Decision-making [/list] This is the ability to make the best choice out of many available options. The choice is made after considering its result. In life, it is important to think about consequences before making a decision. [list=circle] [*]Problem-solving [/list] This involves making choice and acting on it. Problem-solving skills are necessary for life because they help individuals to make decisions and implement them in whatever situation they find themselves.   Sources of life skills People learn life skills from different sources. The following are the major ones; Family- parents, guardians and other relatives are the primary sources from whom we learn different life skills Neighbors- We learn the different ways that people live with our neighbors. Good neighbors help us to behave well. Friends- friends enable us to acquire various life skills. Exchanging good ideas with friends helps to mold us into well-behaved individuals. Schools- the good education we get at school enables us to develop skills for life Society- the way people in the society live allows an individual to learn what is expected of him or her and how he or she behaves in different circumstances. Religion- good religious teachings help us to get skills which enable us to live harmoniously in society.   Importance of life skills Life skills are very important because they help a person to develop abilities which are necessary for making life better. Some of the things that these skills enable us to do includes; [list=circle] [*]Make proper decision in life on different matters, like friendships, the subjects to take at school and the careers to pursue [*]Develop good behavior. Through social skills, a person is able to avoid bad friends and anti-social behavior such as smoking, drug abuse, taking alcohol and getting into premature sexual relationships. [*]Increase love and understanding for other people because of good social skills. [*]Respond effectively to different situations. Through life skills, a person is able to handle unfortunate occurrences such as divorce, the death of friends and relatives, examination pressure or any form of harassment and intimidation. [*]Maintaining peace and order. Negotiation skills enable people to solve their problems peacefully, this help to prevent conflicts. [*]Understand the environment and the ways of fitting in it. [/list]   How to use social skills                         Forming relationship with other people This skill enables one to know how to behave in each relationship. It helps a person to behave properly according to the prevailing situation. Making good friends A person can use this skill to make good friends. Good friends are those who [list=upper-roman] [*]Respect and assist us, our parents, relatives, and elders [*]Go to school and respect school rules [*]Assist each other when in problem [*]Correct each other when one misbehave [/list] Showing empathy This is the ability to feel what others are going through, especially when they are experiencing problems. This social skill enables one to understand other people`s problem and show sympathy. It also enables one to feel concerned about others. Exhibiting peer resistance A person who has proper social skill is able to resist bad influence from his or her peers and friends. Such a person does not do things that are unacceptable to society, for example, fighting, prostitution, theft, and truancy. Displaying effective communication Proper communication can be used to establish good relations with other people. It is through effective speaking, writing and listening that a person can establish a healthy relationship with others. Problem-solving This is a social skill that enables a person to make proper decisions in difficult times.   Consequences of not applying life skills, [list=upper-roman] [*]Improper choices: people may make wrong choices in their education and future careers [*]Bad behavior: people may develop bad behavior. For example, the youth may not respect their parents, teachers, and elders due to negative peer pressure. They may also get into drug abuse or steal. [*]Conflicts: conflicts can occur due to lack of negotiation skills. Such conflicts could be among students, in families, in communities or between countries. [*]Poverty: poverty may occur or increase due to lack of proper decision-making in the society or country. [*]Poor leadership: lack of good communication between leaders and the citizens can lead to poor leadership. [*]Lack of empathy: lack of empathy may lead to increase suffering for those who have problems as those who do not have them may not understand their circumstances. 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