Why it is Important that Teenagers Learn These 3 DIY Skills
Lack of education covering life skills, limited opportunities for apprenticeships and reduced opportunities for employment mean that our children need to empower themselves with 3 skills that will prove valuable.
05/11/2023
Times have changed for youngsters over the past couple of decades. Being taught life skills - including domestic education and woodwork/metalwork - is no longer part of the educational curriculum, add to that the limited opportunities for kids leaving school to enter into an apprenticeship and reduced employment opportunities and we are left to wonder what teenagers are supposed to do when they leave school? Many school leavers are focusing their talents on becoming social media Influencers and, while this has proven successful for many, it is not a career for everyone.
With the lack of skills offered as part of our standard education, what else can teenagers do to improve their potential for employment after leaving school? The easy answer is to become an entrepreneur but it is a bit more involved than that. If nothing else, introducing a teenager early to essential DIY skills will unlock their creativity and assist them in choosing a direction in which to go forward. Nowadays having DIY skills is not only for boys, but girls can be just as motivated and even if DIY is not the direction they want to take, learning the skills below imparts independence and confidence and these skills will aid them well in their future.
1 | Building Confidence with DIY Skills
Having hosted hundreds of DIY Divas workshops over the years, one thing I can state with the utmost conviction is that those attending the workshop, even for a couple of hours, left feeling more confident in themselves and looking forward to the next step. Even without a trainer, using tools and techniques for the first time lets youngsters discover for themselves what they can do with the basic tools and materials used for all types of DIY.
If one or both parents are handy at home and like to undertake the odd home repair or maintenance project, make sure to get the kids involved at the same time. It is a good lesson in learning what they can and cannot do and will give them a step up the ladder to building a better level of confidence.
2 | Learning to Work Independently
The acronym DIY stands for do it yourself and more often than not it involves projects and tasks that are done on your own or with a helper. Working independently is one of the cornerstones of education and its importance is often overlooked. Many successful entrepreneurs will tell you that being able to work on your own and have the skills to do almost everything yourself is an essential ingredient for success.
Teenagers learning DIY skills and working on the solutions to problems quickly learn how to do it themselves and with all the information required freely available to read or view, they can deal with problem-solving themselves. Making mistakes is a part of the process and continually failing only means that you need to find a better solution. Give them small projects to handle on their own with guidance or make certain tasks their responsibility and you will instill the ability to work independently.
3 | Discovering Empowerment
Repair and maintenance have taken a back seat in modern times as the term 'disposable' affects nearly all manufactured goods. Society has come to know that every item has a life expectancy and the solution is simply to replace it or buy new. But this is not something we should be teaching our children. They should be taking an active interest in how to care and maintain for items to extend their life, or how to find solutions to fix them. Even something as simple as fixing the flush mechanism in a toilet or replacing a tap valve imparts a level of self-satisfaction that is hard to beat and is most definitely empowering.
Final Words
These three skills will give any teenager a boost in confidence, teach them how to work on their own and impart empowerment as part of the process. At the end of the day, we want to ensure that our kids have everything they need to establish their own future and anything that leads to exposing them to mastering tough situations is a step in the right direction.