If you have a good friend, especially one that has been around for a long time, that is a very special feeling and privilege. For some they may have a friend that they had from some of their schooling days – whether it is primary or college days. As the one saying goes “To have a good friend, you must be a good friend.”
So we want our children to develop those sort of friendships that last a long time. In fact it is with those sort of friendships that middle and high school are going to be easier to navigate. It is not about just being popular, it is about healthy relationships between two individuals.
Developing friends and keeping them does not come easily for all children or adults. So what should you do if your child is having trouble making or keeping friends? We will spend some time this month looking at ways we can be a good friend and how others are good friends to us.
Qualities of a good friend:
Thoughtful, sharing, kind, helpful, fun, reliable, good listener… and the list can go on. In fact making a list of the qualities we like in our friends will help us examine if we are being a good friend.
On the other side of that though is what it means to not be a good friend. If someone cannot be trusted, either to do something or not to talk about us behind our back, we are not going to feel good about them. Trust may be one of the most important parts of friendship. If they tell us something in confidence, can we or they resist sharing that with others? When we know we can trust someone with our feelings or challenges, we have found one of the most important qualities of a good friend.