Social skills are the way we interact with others. Good social skills can help us become confident, happy people who are easy to get along with.
We all need the following skills:
Communication skills- to be able to communicate well with others
Participation skills - participating (joining in), can be very difficult for some people, but if you work on these skills, it could get easier and a whole lot more fun.
Friendship skills- Everyone needs friends, but some people have problems making and keeping friends.
Resolving conflict skills - Everyone has problems with others sometimes. The trick is, to sort them out as quickly as possible.
Empathy - or the ability to recognise and even share feelings that are being felt by another, is a big component of healthy social interactions. Being able to gauge another’s needs in light of and sometimes in spite of, your own needs, can often determine your success or failure at relationships.
We learn to 'read' social cues early in life, and they do vary from culture to culture. For example, children learn to “read” their parents moods and they get pretty good at knowing when it is a good time to ask for something – and when it is not. If a parent’s moods are constantly in flux or unreliable, a child may have a skewed vision of appropriate interactions, and may then struggle outside the home to understand other’s needs.
We all thrive on positive attention. Children and young people especially, need to know that what they think, feel, do and experience is important to you. The best way to build up your child's self-esteem, is to make sure they always know – absolutely, and without a doubt - that they are loved by you.