Friends are people you like to be around. Friends support each other. Friends also share the same interests. A person can have old friends, new friends, good friends, lifelong friends, childhood friends and be a best friend.
Friendships are important and worth having to help you develop emotionally and socially. It’s important that all kids realise there is no set passage to finding friendships. Some of you will feel happy with lots of friends and others will be happy with just a few good friends. It’s important that you find your own social style of friendship.
There are also group friendships. These friendships can be multilayered and each member of the group know that things can change very quickly. I don’t know one person who hasn’t struggled in group friendships at some time in their life. It’s important to remember that relationship conflicts and rejection happen even to popular kids. Sometimes you will need to use new social skills to help you deal with different situations. Those may be communicating in a different way, staying in control of your emotions, making use of your empathy and cooperating with others. However, I think one of the most important skills you can learn is resilience. This is the ability to work through the feelings involved and quickly recover. It might be as simple as accepting what has happened and looking at ways to solve the problem.
Here are a few positive friendship skills.
- Talk about or share your interests with your friends.
- Listen to your friends.
- Play fair.
- Respect one another.
- Use positive social skills like, smiling, use a friendly voice and pay attention to your friends safety.
- Have fun with your friends.
- Praise your friends if they do something well.
- Be helpful to your friends.
- Be truthful.
- Be aware of each others feelings.
If you are experiencing problems with a friendship and the situation is worrying you talk to a supportive adult.
Next month I’ll be talking about insecurities. Until then I’ll leave you with one of my favourite quotes on friendship.
One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood. ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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