Life skills education for young people

Laine Berman, Yogyakarta

Jakarta Post 13 March 2006

Parents and communities have a huge role to play in guiding the future of this nation through the way they shape its children, guaranteeing their safety, health, and happiness. Throughout Indonesia , however, there are few, if any, systems set up to facilitate youth-focused communities. Instead, we find just the opposite -- institutions that undermine the healthy development of children and the active participation of youth. When children don't turn out as hoped, blame is thrown everywhere but where it belongs.

Children are a product of the communities they live in. They grow up learning its norms and values, interests and hopes. Therefore, preparing children to face the conflicts and challenges of everyday life should be both a family and community-based initiative. Having a family, just like forming a community, means taking responsibility. It also means supporting institutions such as schools to become more responsible and to provide the services they claim to. Thus, if the nation is in crisis, but the community is stable, your children are far more likely to be healthy.

There are many examples of targeting different issues relating to children that could and should be adapted for Indonesian contexts. One such example is a life-skills curriculum adapted for each level of school, from elementary onward.

What is life-skills education?

Life skills are essentially those abilities that help promote mental well-being and competence in young people as they face the realities of life. UNICEF defines life skills education as a behavior development approach designed to address three areas: Knowledge, attitudes and skills. The UNICEF definition is based on evidence that children reject risky behavior when they have the knowledge, attitudes and skills to do so. Parents, families and communities are responsible for providing their children with this necessary life-skills knowledge in areas such as sex, drugs and civics education. For the most part, however, this is not being done. In this era of "free sex" and concerns about the impact of a globalized media on children, talking to children about sex, drugs and especially HIV/AIDS is essential. But the role of parents and schools in sex education remains a challenge that has yet to be faced. Research with parents shows that adults are reluctant to talk to children about sex. They find it difficult to identify with children's experiences. This may involve discussing things that they don't usually talk about or have little understanding of themselves.

Meanwhile, Indonesian authorities and organizations have defined life-skills training as income-based training, rather than specific training that provides children with skills in basic decision-making and problem-solving. The result is frightening -- vast numbers of Indonesian children without the confidence, knowledge or skills to make decisions that will shape their lives.

Young people today face tough new challenges, such as the risk of early pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, unemployment, conflict and political instability, discrimination and human trafficking, sexual and other forms of exploitation. In order to protect themselves, young people need skills that enable them to evaluate a situation, and to make safe choices based on their own well-developed sense of self -- not just by doing what their friends are doing (ikut-ikutan). While the standard approach here in Indonesia is to shape attitudes alone, the life skills approach combines knowledge, attitudes and skills to provide young people with not only information but also methods of processing the information and applying it in everyday life. This involves translating knowledge and attitudes into safe and adaptive actions. Life-skills training is comprised of interpersonal, attitudinal and psychosocial aspects, and includes such skills as communication, decision-making, creative thinking, negotiation, stress management, values analysis, and confidence-building.

Life-skills training does not "preach", "make demands", or provide "correct answers" to issues of sexual, violent, or drug-related activity. Instead it allows the young to make appropriate choices by providing a strong foundation for such choices. The fatalistic, "Don't do it!" approach, long adhered to in Indonesia by government agencies, NGOs and the mass media, has proved ineffective. Instead of slogans and "correct answers", it is time to recognize the complexities and challenges facing young people and move beyond simplistic messages to discuss issues in a more open manner.

Arguments such as talking about sex is "taboo", or that condom ATMs and sex education promote sexual behavior, are unfounded and no grounds for denying our children the skills necessary for a long, healthy life. Quality sex education does not encourage sexual activity but rather encourages clear and careful thought processes about responsibility, self-respect, and other values. These are all issues no parents, teachers or religious leaders could object to. We all want the same things for our children -- the issue is: Do we reach this level through education or silence? The life-skills approach does not tell young people what is right and what is wrong. Rather, it provides them with the skills to self-reflect and evaluate responsibly, to critically recognize issues and impacts through information and choices. If done well, it builds independence, self-respect, and maturity. It thus provides the foundation for a more democratic, socially aware, capable, responsible, and caring younger generation. When people feel in control of their lives, they are the essential building blocks for the future of a healthy and modern nation.

Laine Berman, PhD, runs safe-youth training programs in Yogyakarta , where she has lived for nearly 25 years.