As per WHO, “Young People covers the age range 10-24 years.” In current times of cut throat competiton, it is very important that as parents and educators we remain abreast and acknowledge the challenges that children, young people face as they grow and make place for themselves in this world. These challenges whether academic or personal tend to reflect on the overall development of their personality. Hence, as parents and educators the onus is on us to intervene and provide support by communicating with them.
To have a constructive communication, it is very important that we have access to quality resources with respect to various age groups that we could look upto. There is a myriad of quality documents on the Internet. The SEL resources are a compilation of curated documents that are in public domain and documents created by Abhyast to assist parents and educators in their endeavour to ensure the following competencies in children and young people :
Cogntive - facilitate learning in children
Even before a child goes to a preschool, s/he is aware of the names of the objects that surround her/him. Learning is initiated even before they join school. Parents and family members thus are the first teachers.
The social constructivist theory of Lev Vygotsky emphasizes that learning is a social process:
" Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals." (Vygotsky, 1978, p.57)
Social and Interpersonal - empower to promote harmony socially and with self
In Sociology, Socialization is a process where an individual learns to adjust to a group or society. This is a life long process that shapes the beliefs, attitudes and reflects in actions of children, young people and even adults. In today's scenario everyone lives in the virtual world as well. The virtual world has its own demands in terms of adjustability. It has a profound effect on our cognitive, affective and psychosocial health. In times when young people seek acceptability on social media, it becomes all the more important that we ensure that children, young people and even adults nurture a healthy self concept, self belief and self pride.
Emotional - support the emotional and intellectual growth while nurturing thinking.
Researches suggest that the brain development unlike other physiological processes continues til the early 20s. Though the brain reaches nearly its full size before the age of puberty but it matures fully by the age of 25. The Limbic system part of the brain responsible for emotions and motivation develop much faster than the prefrontal cortex part of the brain. Prefrontal Cortex is responsible for executive functions such as decision making ,focusing attention, organizing thoughts and problem-solving, Foreseeing and weighing possible consequences of behavior, Considering the future and making pr+ediction and many more.
The difference in timing of the development of the limbic system and prefrontal cortex contributes to more risk-taking during adolescence. Because adolescents are motivated to seek thrills that sometimes come from risky behavior, they are more likely to engage in reckless driving, smoking, or drinking, and have not yet developed the cognitive control to resist impulses or focus equally on the potential risks (Steinberg, 2008)