Making friends

Friends are people you like and who like you back. They are people you can talk to and share your feelings and experiences with. Friends are people who make you feel good when you’re with them.

Some people might have a lot of friends. Some people might have a few. That is okay. Not everybody you meet will be your friend.

Some important things about friends are:

• friends listen to each other
• friends share things with each other
• friends trust each other
• friends can sometimes disagree or have arguments. That is okay. Friends take time to try to work it out when they have disagreements or arguments
• friends can sometimes do things that make us upset. This doesn’t mean they aren’t your friend, but you should talk to them about why you are upset.
• friends shouldn’t upset you or make you feel bad all the time. They shouldn’t bully you or make you feel unsafe. Speak to somebody you trust if you need help.

It is equally important that your child understand which people aren’t their friends. This means understanding that just because somebody is friendly to you doesn’t mean they are your friend. This includes people like:

• teachers
• support workers
• doctors or health workers
• shop assistants

This doesn’t mean that your child can’t have a close relationship with their teacher or support worker. These relationships involve a lot of trust and can go on for many years. But to help them develop healthy friendships with their peers, it is important that they understand that people who are providing you a service are different to people who voluntarily choose to be your friend.