A “Life Skills” Class Needs to be Mandatory for all High School Students
Prepared for: Decision Makers and Committee Members
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A “Life Skills” class needs to be mandatory for all high school students
Introduction
My topic for the research proposal will be; A “life skills” class needs to be mandatory for all high school students. Learning Life skills in high school changes the way of thinking of most students in colleges and universities. Students graduating from high school with credit in life skills will show a high level of maturity, and they will manage their small activities like getting a job or paying rent more effectively. Most of the students who graduate from high school lack the intelligence required in real-life conditions. When high school children are taught how to act like an adult, transitioning from childhood to adulthood becomes easy. Most high school students experience the stigma of joining a life skills class; therefore, making life skills mandatory will reduce their stigma and fear. Research has shown that life skills studies prevent drug abuse, bullying, or violence in school, teenage pregnancies, and promotes self-esteem and self-confidence among the students.
Furthermore, life skills help in improving social development, social and emotional changes. Therefore, my proposal is life skills training using the recommended training programs. By offering life skills training, I can positively impact thousands of high school students by providing affordable and most required skills. The life skills training objective is to have an educational platform accessible to people who demand and require skills so that every person in high school can benefit.
Discussion
Outline
The discussion section will start by looking at the background information on the topic that life skills should be made mandatory for high school students—followed by a detailed proposal. I will explain why my proposal is valid and adopted by the decision-makers, managers, administrators, and committee members. Also, I will explain the benefits of the proposal and the steps to be followed during the proposal’s implementation. Lastly, I will look at the critical factors that must be considered to facilitate proposing a reality.
Background Information
A combination of social skills, character, people’s skills, communication skills, personal traits forms what is known as life skills. Life skills help an individual to relate well with others, get good performance, and navigate their surroundings. People with life skills live happy and meaningful lives and have a high potential for achieving their goals. The current literature studies by scholars indicate that future generations will have to be innovative, creative, and multi-literate (Vranda & Rao, 2011). There will be a high competition among the youths to for them to be successful. Therefore, students graduating from high school will need computing, speaking, and writing skills. Other skills include cooperation techniques and leadership skills. For the students to acquire the skills, they need to have confidence in debating, problem-solving, speaking, writing, and discussing. Making life skills mandatory would benefit many students joining high learning institutions and don’t know how to survive independently. High-time students, teachers, parents, and guardians recognize the importance of life skills.
Life Skill Training Program Proposal
The proposal is a life skill training program to address the idea of making life skills mandatory in high schools. This proposed project aims to reduce the future suffering of students as they finish school and join colleges or get jobs. 85% of children who become successful in life have well-developed people skills or life skills (Roodbari et al. 2013). The training program will equip students with leadership, personality, and communication skills. The training will also improve the confidence or brilliancy of many students, hence improving their overall performance in school.
The life skills program should be used in both private and public schools. The training program will fulfil the future demand for innovative and creative youths by using a team of highly qualified staff from the education sector to help them realize the hidden and full potential they have. It will be a classroom program that will take one year, where experts will go to schools to train students on life skills.
The life skill training program will include topics that cater to every high school student’s needs for today and in the future. These topics include spirituality, mental health, personality development, leadership skills, communication skills, critical thinking, behaviour skills, and problem-solving (Yadav & Iqbal, 2009). Students will gain a lot from the training if they are engaged, enthusiastic, and interested. The training method will help create students’ enthusiasm through practical lessons involving quizzes, presentations, tasks, teamwork, and activities. The training program will also have theory classes that will involve reading and writing.
Benefits
The training program will involve a team of highly qualified experts that will only focus on life skills. About 75% of the learning will be practical studies, where the students will be fully supported even after completing the course. The students’ future is expected to flourish after completing a life skill training course, and employers in the corporate sector are in high demand for people with life skills. The training will produce future leaders who have a good character and excellent knowledge of academics. The training program will also offer protection to high school students from suicides, emotional instability, drug abuse, and relationship problems (Puspakumara, 2011). life skills training will be an effective way of improving the discipline and behavior of high school students. Hence, it will enhance how students interact with staff and parents. Life skill training will enhance the growth of the mind to promote student performance and results. Lastly, confidence-building is another benefit of the training; most students fear to show their talents and creativity because of low confidence.
Steps for Making the Life Skills Training Program Happen
It is crucial to secure support for the life skills training in high school by engaging the stakeholders that would play a part in the process. Implementing the life skills training program will require the training of experts, which must be face to face learning. Education authorities and schools will need to bring in their input and suggestions to promote the right collaborations. The training program should be worthy of the resources available. The training program’s outcome and the process should be evaluated, and the results distributed to people who might determine the future of the life skill training program.
A development and implementation committee may be formed, headed by a manager, to work on how the life skills training program will be developed and implemented. The development and implementation committee should appoint an advisory board made of education authorities, health experts, non-government organizations, teachers unions, and others.
Factors to Put into Considerations for the Life Skills Training Program
Language
This is a necessary factor since not all people speak the same language. Therefore, the life skills training program should be written and translated into different languages that high schools can easily understand. However, disparities will have to appear in the different documents since expressions specific to a given culture may be meaningless in other cultures. Furthermore, reverse translation of the life skills training program should be carried out by translating the translated version to the original document. This is done to confirm that what was translated from the original document does not change the meaning and concepts.
Cultural factors
The content of the training program requires more attention. Only content that is acceptable to a given culture should be included. Other parts of the training content have to be amended to create culturally sensitive activities.
Cost and Management of Resources
It is not possible to have an estimated cost of the life skills training program. However, the following checklist indicates a few of the expenses.
- Distribution cost of life skills books and other materials.
- The production cost of life skill materials that include printing cost and payment to illustrators and writers.
- Cost of training life skills experts that include traveling expenses.
- Cost of promoting the program, including advertisement cost, launching cost, and cost of producing sample materials.
- The cost of reviewing and revising life skill training materials.
Designing the life skill training Program
Designing the training program will involve creating a lesson plan that includes arranging a time and the topics in a sequence, from the most basic to the most challenging topics. Each life skill should be taught in three levels in one year. For example, a self-awareness lesson might have level one that involves learning personal traits, level two about self-control, and level three about responsibilities and rights.
Conclusion
Most students are not aware of the importance of life skills until they get out of school and face a real-life situation. The suffering faced by students is because life skills have not been made mandatory in schools. The effects of lack of life skills are extended to parents who have to talk to their parents when tormented with thoughts of suicide, stress, or death. Therefore, life skills need to be made mandatory for high school students. The life skill training program would ensure that learning of life skills become mandatory to all students. The program would help many students with skills like problem-solving, communication skills, writing skills, critical thinking, and self-awareness. Life skill training benefits would help the students deal with the current situation and excel in their future endeavors.
Furthermore, graduates with life skills are more appealing to employers than those who lack life skills training. Implementing the life skills training program will need a management team and an advisory board made of stakeholders who contribute their views and wishes to the process. Lastly, factors like cost, language, and culture need to be considered to ensure that the life skills training program is successful.
Recommendation
Life skills are critical and should also be introduced in higher learning institutions where there is increased suicide and depression. It is recommendable that the life skills training program be distributed to all schools without discrimination of race, gender, or origin. The number of pregnant girls continues to increase in many parts of the country and the world. Life skills experts, teachers, and parents should take the situation seriously and help their children shape behavior and exercise self-control. The proposal should be evaluated several times before it gets implemented to determine if it’s viable or not. Cost-saving mechanisms should be put in place during the development and implementation of the proposal. It is essential to carry out a trial of the proposal within a small area; then, if it is fair, implementation in other processes continues. This would help in avoiding the risk of enormous losses.
References
Roodbari, Z., Sahdipoor, E., & Ghale, S. (2013). The Study of the Effect of Life Skill Training On Social Development, Emotional And Social Compatibility Among First- Grade Female High School In Neka City. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences, Vol. 3(3), 382-390. Retrieved from http://www.cibtech.org/jls.htm
Puspakumara, J. (2011). Effectiveness of life-skills training programs in preventing common issues among adolescents: A community-based quasi-experimental study (ALST). Presentation, Dept. of Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine & Allied Sciences Rajarata University of Sri Lanka.
Vranda, M., & Rao, M. (2011). Life Skills Education for Young Adolescents and Indian Experience. Journal of The Indian Academy of Applied Psychology. Retrieved from http://repository.um.edu.my/18138/1/jiaap%20halim%20santosh%202011.pdf
Yadav P, Iqbal N (2009). Impact of Life Skills Training on Self-esteem, Adjustment, and Empathy among Adolescents. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, (35)