AL F
Choosing Friends Friendships are very important to teens, and teens typically spend more and more time with friends. Parents need to know who their teens are spending time with and what their teens are doing on a daily basis. You can also encourage your teen to have healthy friendships. Talk with your teen about the true meaning of friendship.
True friendship is based on mutual respect, caring, understanding, trust, and concern. Real friends want to keep their friends safe and well.
True friendship is not based on superficial things like money, looks, or popularity.
When you discuss the meaning of friendship together, you’ll help your teen learn to prioritize making smart decisions about who they allow to influence them.
Do you worry that your teen is hanging around with the wrong crowd? Even the smartest kid can choose a friend that leads them down a risky path. It’s your job as the parent to empower your teen to choose wisely when making friends. But what do you do when you notice your child hanging out with someone who may not be the best influence? • Don’t ban a friend. Possibly the worst thing to do is forbid your teen from seeing that friend. If you criticize a friend, your teen will feel compelled to defend them and explain all of the “good” features of the friendship. A better strategy is to include the friend you disapprove of in some family activities. Then you get a chance to get to know them and share your family values. • Encourage more friends. Encourage your child to participate in hobbies or extracurriculars where they can meet other teens with appropriate values. Making more friends helps prevent influences by a single “bad” friend. • Help teens avoid high-risk group situations. The most dangerous situations for teens are unsupervised group activities and parties. It can be hard to stand up against a group. Teach them strategies to avoid peer pressure or unsafe situations. • Monitor social activities and supervise parties. Before your teen attends a social event, contact the host teen’s parents to make sure that the party will be supervised by adults and won’t involve alcohol or other drugs.
35
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software