As member of the society, young people should be regarded as agent of development and imminent leaders of the nation. Therefore, providing them with knowledge and skills valuable for the development of assured physical and psychological well being is very essential. High number of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse among youth is regarded as serious problem that harm the quality of human being and the society. Additionally, respect to the dignity of human being is humiliated since stigma and discrimination is attached to people living with HIV/AIDS. Thus, it is necessary to encourage youth to come up with good character that prevent them from the spread of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. There are five essential elements of good character in life skills education for preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. First is self-esteem, refers to the discovering of “self” by questioning “who Am I”, and realizing that each self is a unique creation of God wherein respecting “the self” means respecting God as the creator. As the core of personality, self-esteem influence the way individual perceive and accept each unique self and the environment. Positive self-esteem direct to the positive perception and acceptance of self and environment, and help individuals to master communication and ability to work together with others, which necessary for making friends and networks that lead to positive feelings of being loved and accepted. Second is responsibility for being and doing good. In order to respect the creator and the society, each individual has the responsibility to always mind their behavior not to harm her/him self and others. Including in this responsibility is self-regulation, refers to know how to discipline and to protect the behavior from harmful condition that might impair the development of physical and psychological well-being. Third is achievement orientation. The vital development task of young people is to develop capacities needed for their future life. Therefore, young people should focus their activities that orient to the achievement needed for their future. Fourth is critical thinking and creativity for making decision on what should be do in encountering such appealing and attractive environments that might impair the development of good character. |