Why are Life Skills Important Skills for Youth to Develop?
When designing programs for youth, it is important to understand how youth develop and identifying those skills that contribute to the healthy development of youth. Life skills comprise the majority of competencies within the personal and social assets categories (i.e., physical development, intellectual development, psychological and emotional development, and social development; see Table 1) identified in the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine book on youth programs (Eccles & Gootman, 2002). According to the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine youth need opportunities and support from their communities to develop these important personal and social assets in order for youth to become competent, contributing adult members of society. Youth do not need to possess all of the assets to thrive; however, having more assets is better than having a few. Also, continued exposure to positive experiences, settings, and people, as well as opportunities to gai
