【明報專訊】Life skills include the ability to maintain good human relationships, control emotions, and manage time and money. We use these skills when dealing with personal matters, family, studies, entertainment and society. Maintaining good life skills helps us perform better at work and develop our careers.
The "Hong Kong kids" phenomenon
In recent years, spoiled children who are unable to take care of themselves have come to be called "Hong Kong kids". Wong Ming Lok(黃明樂), author of the book Hong Kong Kids, said the problem is largely attributable to poor parenting skills, as some parents spoil their children so much that they cannot deal with their personal matters themselves or fit into society. The education system's stress on academic performance and lack of emphasis on young people's life skills also aggravates the problem, making them too weak to deal with adversities or difficulties.
Emotional control
Young people in Hong Kong are said to be less and less stress resistant, and their mental health has led to concern. The Boys' & Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong (香港小童群益會)says that young people are more susceptible to emotional upheavals(劇變) during puberty, and that primary school students who have to start secondary school are faced with a huge change. In some cases, they might have suicidal thoughts if they find it difficult to cope with pressure. The Association recommends that parents should pay more attention to their children.
Handling oneself
As reported by the Daily Mirror, a British newspaper, humans are gradually losing many basic life skills thanks to technological developments. Experts say that while ten years ago – when smartphones had not been invented yet – people still knew how to read a map, use a compass and interpret units of length, the new generation relies on mobile phone applications such as Google Map for every aspect of their lives. Experts say that though these apps are convenient, people will become unable to take care of themselves in cases of emergencies, when only paper
Money management
Many mainland students, some of whom come from wealthy families, have chosen to study in Hong Kong in recent years. Flaunting (炫耀) their wealth, some mainland parents give hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to their children as "pocket money". Social workers say that since most young people have never had to work hard to earn money, giving them so much pocket money is likely to distort their view towards money and make them "judge people on how rich they are". This is hardly a good thing. Social workers recommend that parents should just give children basic maintenance or just 10 or 20 percent more, at the same time teaching them how to save up and the right attitude to money.
Peer pressure
Research shows that of young people who abuse drugs, fifty percent do so because of peer pressure. Christian Zheng Sheng College(正生書院) believes that education is the best tool for saving young people from drug addiction. The college helps young people learn life skills and provide career training programs to bring young people on the right track.
Related concepts:
．attitude towards life
．self development
．parenting style
[通通識 第486期]
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