What to do if a child finds it difficult to make friends
People -like – important
According to Kaspar Tarčevsky, a child rights defender, it is important for every child to make friends, like -minded, who would be happy to spend their leisure time: « Unfortunately, all children are different and not everyone is easy to communicate, to have a strong friendship. Such difficulties are often hurting a child or young man. »
Marina Guptor, a member of the Lithuanian Psychologists’ Union, notes that loneliness is nowadays a common person: “Today is the common phenomenon of loneliness. How to find friends is relevant since kindergarten. There are periods when no friends are worried about: Is it a problem to decide how to help the child. ”
Helps family support
Children’s Rights Defender Kaspar Tarčevski says that it doesn’t matter that the child has many friends or just one. The most important thing is the child’s well -being. If a child feels good, with a few friends, everything is great. However, when noticing that a child or young person feels lonely, he does not communicate with anyone from his peers, it is worth talking and suggesting to help.
According to Mr Guptor, if talking from a child from the lips of a child resolves phrases like « I want friends », « I don’t know how to make friends », « I don’t pay », « I don’t go out », then a really good opportunity to think about how we could help my child.
« Children, including adults, are afraid to be excluded, bullying, and often choose not to risk and look for friends. Therefore, parents could do three essential things: developing their child’s social skills, promoting common activities, circles with peers and developing their child’s self -confidence, » advises the psychologist.
Marina Guptor / Photo by Personal Archive
The key is to communicate live
Most importantly, according to Mr Guptor, live communication and common hobbies. Often, modern children, without knowing where to start the conversation, choose to communicate online by correspondence. Unfortunately, such communication, though simpler, does not work on social skills, and ultimately, if necessary, live, only more anxiety and distrust occurs when needed.
« Definitely not all people like, not all we can be friends, not everyone likes and it is perfectly normal. Therefore, parents’ call to knit friendships, support, help the child reveal their strengths will encourage the child to feel bold, » says Guptor.
Viene’s most effective ways to make friends for their child is to attend circles, as they bring together children and young people with common topics, common goals and hobbies. Of course, it is equally important that the child himself would like the group he visits and he willingly go there.
Friendship must develop
However, children’s rights defenders emphasize that very often youth’s desire to have friends and adapt to harmful choices. « Children associated the emergence of certain harmful habits, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, sometimes even psychotropic, narcotic drugs, have linked that they just wanted to fit into a company of friends. Or they saw that drugs, other substances and alcohol were used by their friends. »
The desire to fit in is understandable and natural, but parents’ responsibility is to make sure that the company chosen does not harm or pass by mistake. Also advise the child, the young person, not to give up the pressure of his peers and help to discover friends who help rather than harm. After all, a young person does not always have life experience to understand what is good and what is not. Thus, child rights advocates advise to encourage friendships that are in common activities, circles and to observe the impact on the new friendships to the child: « The goal is to have their children not harm but to educate children. »
