Continued from last week
6.Personal Healthcare and Basic First Aid
Among the critical things that teens should learn, as part of taking care of themselves, is to take care of their health. Important points to remember here are:
* Knowledge of personal health and over-the-counter medications that can come in handy.
* Knowing when to go to the doctor.
* Taking proper care of self, through proper diet and environment, in the case of illnesses like common colds, fever or the flu.
* Health insurance and how it can help them. It is important that you teach your teenager to keep track of health insurance payments to ensure they get aid when needed.
* Handle medical emergencies, like calling 911 or the emergency number in your country.
* Get your teen to learn basic first aid skills like how to clean a wound, use bandage, and other first aid in case of medical emergencies, which may enable him to save a life, should such a situation arise in the future.
The best way to teach your kid about these everyday living skills is to help them take care of themselves when they are at home. Avoid doing everything for them.
7. Social skills and manners
You don’t want your teenager to be singled out because of his or her clumsy manners, do you? Teaching your child skills and manners that he or she must display in a social setting is essential if you want them to have a smooth social life.
* Explore and pursue hobbies, recreational interests and activities to meet like-minded people.
* Develop and maintain friendships.
* Create and nurture personal relationships. Valuing relationships and people in our life is something that only a parent can teach.
* Maintain healthy family relationships.
* Know party etiquette, including how to be host and guest.
* Respect people and their views, regardless of what they think about others.
8. Organization skills
Lack of organization is one of the factors that lead to poor time management. A poorly organized person is almost always searching for something. Sounds familiar?
Here is what you can do to make your teenager stay better organized.
* Teach them the simple rule of Kaizen – a place for everything and everything in its place. Help them implement this rule and they will not have to ‘search’ for something the next time.
* You can help them use an organization tool or system to arrange their books, clothes, and other things.
* Organization also helps de-clutter a room and makes it easier to find something in less time.
* Explain to them that they can avoid making blunders when they are more organized.
9. Domestic skills – managing a home
Imagine your pampered little child finally finishes college and starts a life of his own. But he hates every moment of it because regardless of how intelligent he is, he does not know basic home management skills. Every teen must learn these life skill activities early on.
* Teach them how to find the right accommodation or housing options.
* Manage utilities, pay bills.
* Basic maintenance of the house. Teach them to vacuum, dust and clean the house.
* Your teen is better off knowing how to deal with little repairs around the house. Simple things like fixing a broken circuit, locating water furnace and turning it off or on, and addressing the basic plumbing issues is a must.
10. Driving and auto Maintenance Skills
Driving is one of the most important life skills for teenagers to be self-dependant. But knowing how to drive a car is not enough. Your teenager should also know about auto care or what to do when there is vehicle trouble. Teach them to:
* Buy a car and insurance.
* Registration of the vehicle.
* Have important vehicle records and documents like driver’s license, registration papers, etc. while driving.
* Pump gas and change oil for maintenance.
* Change a tire using different tools.
* Know and follow traffic rules for the safety of self and others.
What life skills do you think teens should learn? Share your views with Young Voice. [email protected]
-To be continued