Life skills for your teens

By Rachna Buxani, Counsellor, Delhi Private School, Sharjah 

“When I went away to college, for the first time all of a sudden I was ‘In Charge’ of everything, from groceries to laundry, cooking and cleaning. The first few weeks were a nightmare. Away from the protected life that I had lived with my parents, I was in this strange land fending for all my needs. The worst part was that I was totally unprepared for what life demanded of me there.

I did not have the necessary skills that would help me survive the ordeal that I faced!” reported Suraj, one of my students who was pursuing his higher education in the United States. 

Life skills are essentially those abilities that help promote mental well-being and competence in young people as they face the realities of life. Many students who go away to study find themselves in situations of distress similar to those faced by Suraj. 

It is thus vital to teach our children some essential life skills that will save them a lot of trouble when they go to college. The following are some skills that I feel would help children better deal with life away from home:

• The first and most important skill to equip our children with is Cooking.  We don’t need to make our children expert chefs, however we need to ensure that they have basic survival cooking skills.  Teach them how to read and follow basic recipes. Make sure they know how to use the Microwave oven, toaster oven, blender, mixer etc. Also, ensure that they know the basic cooking vocabulary including chop, dice, sauté, mince and grate.
• Next in line is to teach your children how to do their laundry.  Kids must know how to operate a Washing Machine and Dryer.  Show your kids the mechanics of using these machines like the right temperature, how to separate the color and black and white clothes, the proper temperature and the ideal amount of load.
• Educate your kids about shopping for their groceries. Teach them about value buying so that they don’t end up spending too much unnecessarily.
• Opening up a bank account and handling a checkbook are again essential skills that your child needs to be taught. Talk to your children about the importance of saving and maintaining a good credit history.  Also, teach them about checking the monthly bank statements to keep a check.
• Train your children on how to write a good CV and appropriate Interviewing skills. You can get information about these topics from several websites and college and career counselors. These skills are important when your children apply for on-campus jobs or internships.
• Teach your children to pay bills on time and budget their expenses.  This will help them in becoming responsible consumers. Many students get into debt because of a lack of these skills, which result in a bad credit standing.  
• Educate your kids about car insurance and maintenance.  Teach them how to check fluid levels in their car and talk to them about regular servicing.
• Your children should know how to read a map in case they travel.

It may seem as if these things are basic and you might feel that your children should know these skills by now, but you will be surprised how many don’t.  

Teaching your children about skills of handling money, banking, shopping and cooking is the best way that you can equip them when they are about to embark upon the journey of attaining their education and save them a great amount of anguish.  Endowing them with these skills will give them a great head start to their future!!

Photo courtesy:  neatsolutions.com 

Rachna Buxani, with an M.Ed in School Counseling from Suffolk University in Boston and a B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Child and Youth from Eastern Connecticut State University, USA has specialised in Middle and High School Counseling. Rachna's expertise is in assessment and management of problems related to adolescence. She would be regularly writing on parenting issues on womenone.org and would be providing answers to readers' queries related to it.