As the school years go by and society progresses further into the digital lifestyle, preparing teenagers for adulthood has never been more critical. The paths teens choose upon graduation have varying results, and that’s why it’s essential to prepare them for adulthood earlier.
Communication Skills
One of the most beneficial ways schools can help teens prepare for adulthood is by teaching and exercising proper forms of communication. How students speak to their locker buddy will not be the same way they need to communicate with their boss. Providing context around the different communication styles will allow them to practice these skills before entering adulthood and eventually the workplace.
Encouraging Autonomy
Allow Choice
Some of the most employable adults are those that think independently and are communicative. In some scenarios, a student doubles as an athlete and learns to work as a cohesive team member. In other instances, students join in-school clubs and take on leadership positions.
Whatever path your students walk on is fine. Allowing them the freedom to choose what best suits them will encourage and improve their autonomy. Adults need to use decision-making skills every day, and autonomy is a requirement.
Flexibility in Tasking
Being willing to accept all answers as responses allows the ability to ask open-ended questions. Thinking critically for students extends beyond the classroom and well into adulthood. In designing a way to be flexible for all students and remain unified in lessons, a few ways schools can help teens prepare for adulthood with flexibility in writing or speaking are:
- Discussions/discussion boards
- Classroom blogs
- Open-ended journal entries with the option to share aloud
Life Math
Being an adult comes with a separate set of math requirements to maintain a suitable lifestyle outside of basic math skills. Once a student understands basic math—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division—incorporating the “life math” into the classroom discussion will open the doors to what they should expect upon living independently.
You want students to learn as they go and enter the working, adult world with a basic understanding of what is essential to their livelihood. A few examples of ways to weave in life math include:
- Basic budgeting: Balancing accounts, ways to move money, bill pay worksheets
- Savings accounts: Basic knowledge of how and where to stow cash
- Investments: Retirement, healthcare accounts, stocks
- Tax education: What they are, where they go
The path into adulthood is not linear, as there are many things to learn and do, and most of the time, it is up to everyone to encounter these experiences and learn as they go. But while students are spending their time in a classroom, schools have an enormous opportunity to funnel in some basic life skills to prepare teens for adulthood. Timed tests and time management go hand in hand, just like personal banking and economics class. There is always room to encourage adult-like abilities.
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