Teaching Interpersonal Social Skills in School

Attribution: Dietmar Rabich,
Photo Schachfiguren, Bauern -- 2022 -- 0022 (bw),
Text added by Patrick Clark, CC BY-SA 4.0

People today seem so sensitive. Everything is taken personally. I find myself wondering if there needs to be a course taught in school on interpersonal social skills. We have lost a great many of the activities in our educational systems that used to be the bedrock of the skills. I think there was also a greater sense of not only community, but an awareness of other communities. Regardless of any particular groups outlook about the other communities, there was really acknowledgement that any particular section of society was not alone.

In contrast, today it seems everyone is hyper focused. Even when you see groups of people and children walking down the street they are all engaging mainly with their devices and it seems to me what they do talk it is not an inclusive event, but more of broadcasting one's own opinion.

As you'll see in the video below, I went for a walk as I pondered this state of social affairs and ended up in a small local forest. That's where these above thoughts really began to hit home, and I found myself feeling a little sad for the younger generation. These interpersonal skills are so important in fulfilling one's life both physically and emotionally. Is it not time we bring attention to these critical skills and honestly start teaching them in school or bringing about some activity that allows people to bond and grow?

In this short video I ponder this thought. Let me know in the comments below if you have any ideas or feedback.

Take care Patrick

PS: The more I consider this question of teaching interpersonal social skills in school, the more I look around me and become increasingly convinced this is the way we must move forward as a society. The impact of not doing so would mean the unraveling of so many fundamental aspects of being human.

Remember when you used go into a coffee shop and everybody would be chattering and discussing a wide variety of things? Even though at times this public discussion would seem loud and overwhelming, ideas were flowing through the air and people were connecting on a very fundamental level. Now if you get on public transit or walk into a Starbucks, it is pretty much totally quiet and the minute someone sits down they are colluding to their laptop and likely plugged in to a local wall socket to recharge their beleaguered and overused battery.

I think this topic may become a series on the blog because as I look at the articles on this site there is a common theme: Humanity and Psychology. Stay tuned and will see what happens. Continue to have a great day.