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Friend Building

Another key element of your response must revolve around the diversification and fortification of your child’s friendships. It is true, that a kid only really needs to have one or two really good friends to have a completely happy and healthy social life. In fact, some evidence suggests that the fewer friends one has, the healthier the dynamics of their friendships are. More friends means more social competition, which can produce bullying within unstable cliques. That being said, close friendships can go south, particularly in the teenage years. Your child needs to feel comfortable branching out when necessary.

These are not skills that come naturally to everyone. The rampant popularity of online dating services, happy hours and other friend facilitating services are bold evidence that even adults have a lot of trouble with this stuff. By default, the teenage social world is a wild ride and its important for parents to help take some of the bumps out. Start by teaching your child how to identify potential acquaintances, contact them, and then develop the contacts into friendships. School provides a never ending supply of teambuilding opportunities. Help your daughter capitalize on after-school clubs, group study opportunities and team projects. Encourage your son to shoot hoops at the park, rather than in the driveway by himself. Get them involved in Boyscouts, martial arts or band.

And never hesitate to be the Matchmaker. Take the opportunity of facilitating some teambuilding opportunities. Plan a trip to the spa, or organize a paintball game. Travel to see a celebrity, broadway show, amusement park or Imax movie. Whatever the destination, make it enticing. Then invite one or two kids whom your child might not invite on his own. This isn’t forcing friendship, its creating opportunity. And if you do it enough, you’ll eventually be rewarded by some strong new allies in your child’s corner. Click the download button to print out some tips for parents and kids looking to build stronger friendships.
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