Life Skills free essay sample

This will help the learners to become responsible citizens who will use their values to guide their attitudes and behaviour. Objectives After completing this section, you should be able to: 1. define values 2. demonstrate an acknowledgement and acceptance of the realities of diversity(ethicity,culture, sexual-orientation, spirituality/religion) 3. identify and prioritize ones own values 4. develop an understanding of how values influence decision making and behaviour 5. recognize the need to live together in atmosphere of peace and contributing to sustainable development| What are values? Values have many meanings: * Values are your personal measure of worth shaped by your beliefs, ideas and principles that are important to you. They shape your priorities and guide you in deciding what is right and wrong * Values reflect our attitudes and what we believe about everything. * Peoples values differ and people and we should all learn to tolerate each others values. Examples: * A person who values family will care about his/her partner, children and home life. We will write a custom essay sample on Life Skills or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page * love for my family is a value I am willing to work hard for and maybe even sacrifice to achieve it. That value reflects the fact that I believe love for family is more important than anything else in my life. This should be reflected in my decisions and actions. If not it is not what the person values. * A person who values being healthy will exercise, eat the right foods,live positively and avoid alcohol and tobacco. Classification of Values Values can be grouped into the following groups: 1. Instrumental values 2. Moral values 3. Intrinsic values 4. Aesthetic values Instrumental values  are those dealing with the means of achieving economic gain, like  money  and  status. Prioritizing Your Values Now that you have identified your core values, you understand what is important to you. You can use then refer to your values list whenever you have to make a difficult or important decision. Read some of the questions from the list below. * Should I smoke Marijuana or drink alcohol because my friends are drinking and smoking? * Is it OK to have sex with a few close partners? * What if I decided to have a sexual relationship should I protect myself from HIV AIDS and other STDs? * Is it cool to say no to sex? Is sex OK if you are getting something for it: money, cell phone, or clothes? * Is happiness and health important? These are difficult questions with no straightforward answers. When faced with such decisions, you need to refer to your list of values, prioritize them and then make a decision. The prioritization of values  allows you to make decisions which would lead to fulfillment of goals without sacrificing your core values. Remember that although this decision may be the correct one for you at this point in life, you might decide differently when faced with the same situation later in life. } Activity Number 2Examine the list you of values you selected in Activity 1 and arrange them in order of importance. | Values for a Sustainable Future In a world of limited resources, conflicting values, and competing individuals and groups, we all need to learn to live together in an atmosphere of peace, respecting ourselves and others and contributing to sustainable development. Values also very much depend on the religion. The values and athics of the religion can help human beings learn to co-operate with each other and the rest of nature for the mutual well-be ing of all.