Teen Parenting Help - Friendships & Cliques

 

While parenting your teen one of the strongest challenges you are going to face is the pressure of friends and friendships on your teen. Humans by nature are creatures’ that seek acceptance and belonging. During their teen year, teens experience a greatly enhanced need due to there flurry of emotions.

In order to help your teen find a group of friends that share a common interest teen you should enroll or encourage your teen to join a wide variety of extra curricular activities. This is a great way for your teen to meet new and exciting people in a less intimidating and hostile environment then the high school cafeteria.

You should also encourage your teen to invite their friends over to your house every once and a while instead of always going out. This will give you a chance to confirm that your teen is making good choices with regards to friendship and getting to know your child’s friends can also help you relate more to them when you are discussing things (for example knowing the “Billy” is extremely outgoing can help you give advice in certain situations).

During high school especially, the “P” word really starts to come into play. Popularity is everything with teens now more then ever (thanks to the increased media and images our children receive on a daily basis). The most popular kids of any high school are thought of like celebrities. There is nothing wrong for being popular for good reasons (such as sports, academics, and extra curricular activities) but what we must keep in mind is that is not usually what teens on the high levels of the “Social Ladder” are involved in. Drugs & Alcohol, Sex, and Good Looks are most commonly what the social elite of high school are famous for and it is important that you make sure you routinely talk to your teen about these issues

Make sure to tell your teen that there is a group of friends out there for anyone and you don’t have to change yourself in order to fit in. Changing yourself gives you an immediate feeling of satisfaction but overtime it can become very wearing and eventually everything will break down.

It is also important for you to keep an eye on the state of your teens various friendships (without being nosey of course). If you notice someone doesn’t call the house anymore then bring up their name casually to your teen. Part of being a good parent is being able to discuss friendships with your teen and this is where you may be able to help your child save a friendship that has being put on the rocks due to a disagreement or argument.