It is very easy for children to fester on issues they had in the past with their friends rather than them moving on from friendship issues and putting them behind them. The issue could still be at the back of their mind and whenever there is an upset in the friendship again that past problem could rear its ugly head. It can be damaging to friendships as old ground is re-surfaced. We need to teach children to either let the past issue go otherwise they may need to let the friendship go if they are unable to forget about it.
Working With The Friendship Issues
Children can learn something new from letting the issue go. They will have learnt something about themselves and what their values and beliefs are. They will also have learnt something about their friend and what is important to them. They will realise the kind of person their friend is and possibly put boundaries around their friendship so that they do not experience the same problem again. They may even decide to share less with their friend or spend less time with them. The friendship may not even have to change.
If the child is unable to forget about the issue then they may have to say goodbye to the friendship for the time being. It will be clear to them that what they believe is non-compatible to their friends and they are simply unable to forgive them at this time. When talking to your child about letting go they need to remember that the friendship does not have to break up forever. They can just take time out from it and go back to it later if both of them want to be better friends again.
How do you teach your child to let go of friendship issues?
For more help and understand around friendships check out my successful friendships ebook.
