Friendships

Top Tips

• Tip 1

  • Your child will learn how to behave towards other people from watching how you behave in your relationships with others.
  • Encourage your child to treat others the way they'd like to be treated. If they wouldn’t want a picture posted or comment made online or face to face, then ask them to think about posting or saying anything that might embarrass, upset or annoy someone else.
  • Encourage your child to understand that it’s ok to have a difference of opinion and to treat each other with respect and dignity when talking about differences.
  • Remember that being kind is the ost important thing.
  • If your child has said or done something that has caused offence or upset to someone, encourage them to do the right thing to resolve it. We all make mistakes from time to time, so encouraging them to forgive themselves and then apologise to the person who is upset.
  • Friendships take effort to build and maintain on both parts. Help your child to make time for the people they care about. Encourage them to connect with friends face to face rather than on social media.

• Tip 2

  If your child is worried about a friend of theirs and thinks they are struggling with their emotional or mental health, there are ways they can help:

  • Encourage your child to ask their friend to tell a parent/carer, teacher, trusted adult or professional helpline.
  • Encourage your child to ask their friend to get information or advice from this website.
  • If the friend is unwilling to tell an adult and your child is still worried, you may need to step in in a helpful way.
  • Make sure your child understands how to be a good friends and understand that they are not responsible for other's well-being. 

• Tip 3

  Lots of young people feel lonely and isolated. It’s not always  easy for young people to make friends or feel like they belong.

  Childline have some useful tips on how to overcome feeling lonely on their website - see below.