The Benefits of Teaching Troubled Teens and Young Adults Social Communication and Life Skills

Teaching troubled teens and young adults social and life skills has a significant impact on their success in several sectors. By imparting the useful skills of healthy social interaction and life preparedness, we can help troubled teens and young adult build successful communication skills and manage their emotions. Well-honed social and life skills can assist these young men in navigating family and peer relationships, as well as job and school situations.

Improving Family Interactions

Struggling teens whose parents model healthy communication skills are better able to contribute to family life positively. When they have learned and practiced constructs for effective communication, at-risk teens are better able to respond appropriately to, and compromise with, family members and in their peer relationships. Our communication skills coaching will help young men with the following skills:

Assisting in the creation of effective rules and boundaries for behavior
Accepting redirection, criticism, or unfavorable decisions
Phrasing criticism so as not to alienate others members of the household
Negotiating for privileges or revised rules as appropriate
Contributing to the smooth running of a household through timely communication of needs
Building awareness of and consideration for other members of the household

Cultivating Healthy Peer Relationships

The same skills that leaven family communication will also impact a troubled teen’s relationships with classmates and friends. Since struggling teen relationships are so reliant upon social cues and behaviors, at-risk teens that master these skills by learning to read and react to others will enjoy greater success in negotiating these complicated relationships. Teens who get explicit instruction in social skills are better prepared for:

Understanding norms for a variety of social situations
Taking turns in conversation and showing appropriate interest in peers
Showing respect and appreciation for differences among peers
Negotiating potentially harmful situations and resisting peer pressure
Responding directly and kindly to criticism or negative treatment
Choosing methods for speedy conflict resolution and compromise

Enhancing College Classroom Performance

Students who receive training in social and life skills are better prepared for success in the college classroom. A classroom has its own set of rather complicated social constructs, which can be difficult for some students to grasp. With specific guidance in this area, at-risk teens can flourish in the classroom. These skills allow students to attain success in the following areas:

Following instructions or rules presented in a variety of formats
Asking for clarification or help as needed,
using appropriate tone, word choice, and vocabulary
Managing multiple deadlines or assignments
Interacting with peers to attain a collective academic goal
Ignoring distractions commonly found in a typical classroom
Cultivating effective anger management strategies
Resolving disagreements and conflicts with minimal adult intervention

It is important to teach young adults the social and life skills they need to negotiate through their increasingly more complicated world. Troubled teens who are equipped with these skills will experience greater success in their family, social, and academic lives.