Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Central Role of Teaching Social Skills

2017; University of Kansas; Volume: 37; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.17161/fec.v37i8.6813

0015-511X

Beverley H. Johns, E. Paula Crowley, Eleanor Guetzloe,

Youth Development and Social Support

Blaine was participating in a pizza party for students who had perfect attendance for the month.When he wanted another piece of pizza, he snapped his.fingers at one of the teacher assistants.The assistant, who was very upset, later learned that at the dinner table Blaine's father snapped his fingers to get what he wanted from Blaine's mother.Obviously, finger-snapping for food was inappropriate and offensive behavior at school, but it was a behavior that Blaine had learned at home.We can no longer assume that all children come to school knowing how to behave and how to respond appropriately in varying social situations.Some children believe that the only way to express anger is to hit someone or to yell until they get attention.Albert, a 15-year-old student who was involved in a gang, did not know how to wait his turn to speak and continually strove, like a 3-or 4-year-old, to get the teacher's attention.He became very upset if someone else in his instructional E/BD class received attention.Tyler, a 16-year-old, is in a regular high school but is scorned by other students because he continually acts like a Power Ranger.Jenny, a IO-year-old receiving resource services from the special education teacher in the building, speaks very quietly and cannot assert herself to make her needs known.All of these students need to be taught appropriate social skills.Mathur and Rutherford (1996) state that adequate social development can be considered the foundation of personal and social adjustment in life.Deficits in social skills are linked to poor social adjustment, mental health problems, delinquency, and low selfconcept.According to Deshler, Ellis, and Lenz (1996): "Social skills knowledge is just as important as content knowledge" (p.371).They believe that poor social skills in school are related to the following factors: (1) limited opportunities to learn; (2) negative academic and social self-concept; and (3) social isolation.According to Shores and Jack (1996), children and youth are identified as having behavioral disorders based on their excesses and their deficits of social behavior.They respond to available social stimuli in unpredictable ways.