Blogs

In teaching life skills for girls, relationships can feel confusing, intense, or even overwhelming. Past experiences such as trauma, neglect, instability, or unhealthy role models can make it hard to know what a healthy relationship actually looks like. Attention may feel like love, control may feel like protection, and chaos may feel normal.

But healthy relationships are not about drama, fear, or losing yourself. They are about safety, respect, and growth. Learning what to look for can help protect your heart, your future, and your sense of self.

Youth at risk of dropping out are usually in their teens and they need practical and emotional life skills curriculum for high school aged youth, focusing on self-management (time, stress, emotions), social skills (communication, conflict resolution, empathy), and practical independence (financial literacy, job readiness, basic living skills), alongside core executive functions like goal setting and decision-making to build resilience and future pathways. These skills empower them to navigate challenges, stay motivated, and make positive life choices.

A strong life skills program for high school youth should prepare teens to thrive independently, make responsible decisions, and succeed personally and professionally. The best programs balance practical daily living skills, emotional intelligence, and social responsibility.

Self-esteem is the foundation of a youth’s emotional well-being. It shapes how they perceive themselves, interact with others, and approach challenges. High self-esteem empowers youth to tackle life’s difficulties with confidence, resilience, and optimism.

The Life skills that support Social Emotional Learning are skills that help at-risk youth handle their emotions, build healthy relationships and make good decisions. When these abilities are taught through a structured SEL curriculum for youth, they become powerful, actionable tools.

At-risk youth may face more challenges in a week than some encounter in a year. Many of them live with constant stress from family struggles and unstable housing to school pressures and community violence. Without healthy ways to cope, this stress can boil over into anger, anxiety, withdrawal, or risky behaviors.

The life skills that support Social Emotional Learning are skills that help at-risk youth handle their emotions, build healthy relationships and make good decisions.

ARISE has put together some summer program suggestions for different grade levels. Take a look and see if your facility can make your summer a summer of enhancing the life skills of the youth in your charge.

Low self-esteem in at-risk teens can be a major source of stress because it affects how they see themselves, how they handle challenges, and how they interact with others.

When working with a-risk teens to network, find and keep a job and to handle money, there are several life skills they need to learn.

Youth who are at risk, often facing challenges like poverty, exposure to violence, and instability need conflict resolution skills for several key reasons.

Meditation can offer at-risk children and teens a valuable set of tools to build emotional resilience, manage stress, improve behavior and foster positive relationships.