Friendships are vitally important to teens. In adolescence, it’s developmentally appropriate for teens to try to develop more independence and create their own identity separate from their family. As they prepare to pull away from their parents, youth need the acceptance and support of their peers. In addition to offering general companionship, adolescent friendships help teens develop conflict resolution skills,
Read moreYour teenager may have over 500 followers on Instagram, but does he or she have a couple of close friends? A report released in July 2021 by the Journal of Adolescence stated that feelings of loneliness among teenagers rose sharply between 2012 and 2018 around the world, with higher increases among girls. Before 2012, the levels of adolescent loneliness (which
Read moreMaking friends, being friends, and occasionally ending friendships are all an important developmental task for tweens and teens. In the early years, many times parents could “choose” their children’s friends by making “play dates” for them. However, despite parents’ worries over their children’s friends and their influence, your teen’s friendships are completely in their own hands, as they should be.
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