There are some children who find it difficult to make new friends because they have had bad experiences in the past and have lost their confidence when it comes to making and keeping friends. As a parent we want nothing more than our children to be happy and to have a good social life. When it does not work out that way there is often quite a bit of work to do to build them up and give them that confidence to initiate conversation and put themselves out there. We hope our children are never in that situation and instead have lots of friends and are being invited out to other friend’s houses and parties now and forever.
Ways To Help Your Child Have A Good Social Life
- We need to teach them the skills needed for friendships and talk to them regularly about how they are getting on with their friends.
- Help them be aware of those children who do not bring out the best in them or have an adverse effect on their behaviour.
- We can talk to them about problems they are having with friendships and teach them how to think through and solve them.
- We can share our values when it comes to friendships and find out what the child thinks is important. By having this discussion you will be encouraging your child to share their opinion and make healthy choices.
- We can teach them how to identify healthy relationships.
- We can discuss with them the kind of moral dilemmas they may face and what they would do.
- We can model and talk about our friendships.
- We can teach them how to be a good friend to others and be true to themselves.
These 8 ways are just a few ideas – there are plenty of other things you can do as a parent. What would you add?
If you would like some help with friendships for your child please get in touch or download my successful friendships ebook.
