Helping Kids Cultivate Healthy Friendships

One hot topic psychologists are talking about is ways that parents can help their kids cultivate healthy relationships. It is important to recognize that developing relationships is a learned skill, and there are ways that parents can help support their children. One developmental task for tweens and teens is the making of friendships. Because many social interactions are online these days, it is important to recognize that friendship is a social task that requires executive function.

How can we help our children build genuine friendships?

1. Define what a healthy friendship looks like.

Young people must recognize that genuine friendships should make us feel good and valued, not cause stress and worry.

2. Explain that friendships do not always last forever, so making several friends is important.

Friendships, especially at the middle school level, go through many changes. Helping your children to understand this can help.

We are coming out of a few years of pandemic isolation and an environment of increased social media and technology use. Many kids (and adults, for that matter) are out of practice. Developing genuine friendships is grounded in knowing your interests and being open and curious about new interests and the interests of others.