Social Skills: Long term benefits not only for students but society as a whole

Today I want to focus on the topic of social skills and the importance it holds. Research has backed that teaching social skills to students as young as kindergarten can have long-term effects on not only the students but on society as a whole, and as we all know society can always use improvement and our students can always find growth.

The benefits that come from teaching social skills come in many different ways–

First off, students with stronger social skills tend to do better in school. One aspect of the development of social skills was a better predictor of grades, school attendance and admission into higher education.

Secondly, Social skills can help students graduate from college and land a well paying job. Children who show greater social skills by kindergarten are more likely to graduate from college and hold a full-time job 20 years later.

The most important benefit from teaching social skills by the age of kindergarten, is the ability for our students to be able to control their emotions and build relationships beyond the school setting. Research has shown that children with stronger social skills were less likely to experience health problems, struggle with substance abuse, or engage in criminal activity as they grew older.

These long-term benefits not only give students a leg up in the world but also helps them grow up to be productive adults in society. It’s clear that investing early in building these social skills greatly benefits our students, so I believe that we should switch the focus from solely academic skills and knowledge of our students but we need to find a way to put as much focus in building our students social skills as well. Don’t get me wrong academic skills and knowledge is of course important, but I think we rely so much on these skills to create investment into human capital that we overlook the importance and benefit of also providing our students with the social skills they’ll need when they’re adults. I believe all schools should find a way to incorporate a social skills program into their curriculum because I believe we would all be surprised by the results it would bring.