Search Results for: blog friendship cliques

Teen Cliques

An old high school friend recently added me to a Facebook group, in which a reunion is being planned. It has been 25 years since we graduated. So it’s been interesting to look at some of the old faces and read up on how everyone is doing. It is hard to imagine some that have gotten married and had children. I guess it’s because I still see them as they were in their cliques. You know the labels that teens put on each other. Back in my day it was the jocks, preppies, nerds, outcasts and the popular kids. I … Continue reading →

Interfering in Children’s Friendship Problems

I don’t know why I do it…but alas it has happened again. It is parental intervention in a friendship problem with my child. For some reason I really struggle with letting my children work it out. I hate to see them hurt or not getting along with someone, so I attempt to patch things up. However that almost always backfires. When my oldest son was in middle school he had a lot of difficulties with his best friend. The problem is that his best friend’s mother is also my very good friend. Needless to say it ended up causing friction … Continue reading →

Teaching Teens About Friendships

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about teenage cliques and how painful they can be. That blog was spurred by my daughter not getting invited to a birthday party. At the time I encouraged her to ask her friend about it. I really didn’t want her to assume the worst but she did. Just a couple of days ago she announced that she was no longer mad at her friend. As it turned out, she had the invitation but kept forgetting to give it to my daughter. In her world everything was fine again. It bothered me, however. One … Continue reading →

Teenage Cliques

Old memories are being brought back, those of teenage cliques. Oh how I painfully remember those times. Cliques can be very heartbreaking. The memories were spurred by a conversation my daughter had with me. I find it interesting how she didn’t just tell me the situation. She wanted to first know how I felt about it. She asked me, “How would you feel if a very good friend of yours that you always invite to your birthday parties didn’t invite you to their birthday party? And then on top of it, she invited your best friend. How would you feel?” … Continue reading →

Relief Society: Forming Friendships

Relief Society is a wonderful organization that has many purposes. The most important purpose is to help the sisters to come to Christ. Another important purpose is to provide service and help to those that need it. Another reason is to help friendships to form between sisters and to provide opportunities to socialize with each other. When the sisters in Relief Society are friends with each other, needs are being met automatically. The sisters often feel more comfortable asking for help from a friend or letting friends know that they are struggling. If your ward is having a difficult time … Continue reading →

Let Kids Friendships Develop Naturally

As adults we tend to forget how important making friends can be to our kids. Tyler has been worried the past few weeks that he won’t make friends when we return to New Orleans. He’s especially concerned about being the “new kid” in the class. School starts after Labor Day but there’s a chance we may not return until school is in session because my house is not quite ready. The plan is to homeschool him until we return. I have assured him that he will make friends. He has the kind of personality that draws kids to him. Just … Continue reading →

Relief Society: Cliques

It is a sad but true fact that there are often cliques in Relief Society. Often I think these form out of not reaching beyond your initial circle of friends. Many times these circles are just of people in the same place in their lives. The moms of the teenagers tend to congregate together, because they want to talk about their teenagers. The young moms with multiple children spend a lot of time together, because their kids like to play together. The newly marrieds and first time moms hang out a lot together as well. While many are friendly, it … Continue reading →

Friendship Cliques

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I remember that some my worst days in eighth grade were due to friendship troubles. Adolescents can be some of the most harsh people in the world when it comes to building and cutting friendships. The act of forming groups of friends and leaving others out is known as forming cliques. Cliques are groups of kids that form friendships with one another and seclude others from entering their group. Not every group of friends is a clique. Some children just enjoy playing together and have no other motive. Cliques purposefully and hurtfully leave other children out. More popular children usually … Continue reading →

The BFF

My daughter has a wonderful BFF. Make that 20 BFFs. At the end of each school day she tells me about all the fun she had playing with her BFF… du jour. My kid is an equal opportunity playmate and sees everyone as a potential best friend. She’s seven. At first I thought it was sweet that she rotated BFFs amongst the gaggle of girls and boys in her grade. Then, I wondered if she was the only kid in the class without a true blue pal. However, after reading a new report about bullying and the social ostracization of … Continue reading →

Can Bullying Be Stopped Before It Starts?

Growing up, everyone experiences the wrath of a bully on at least one occasion. For a child with a disability, it can be a daily battle. As adults, most of us know that bullying is wrong and mean, and we try to teach our children to be nice to everyone. But for kids, this can be difficult when they are faced with the peer pressure to fit in. There is always advice being offered on how to deal with a bully at school, but is it possible to keep the bullying from ever starting in the first place? Maybe. When … Continue reading →