“Friendship picks you up when the world lets you down”
“Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.”
Yes, we all know that friends are a major part of everyone’s lives, our children included. They keep each other company, entertain and support one another. Since humans are social animals, we can’t avoid interactions with others and yes, good friendships do help us out a lot in life. But sometimes, friendship and issues caused by it can be distracting children from their studies. There are many debates whether schools should be only about academics or beyond. But the main intention of a person going to school is to learn. If anything distracts them from that primary goal, it should be treated as an issue. A school going child has only one objective – to study and excel in his academics. Social issues shouldn’t distract any child from that responsibility. Can friendship issues lead to adverse effects on your child’s academic performance?
What might be some issues?
- Lack of friendships: If your child doesn’t have any friends, they might feel isolated in school. They would find it hard to go to school or even properly study. Social isolation is a hard thing for a child. Many pieces of research have proven that children with no friends perform worse in academics than children with even just one friend.
- Peer Pressure: Friends might encourage you to be less devoted to your studies and hang out with them more. Most children would fall for this and end up neglecting their studies.
- The Naming Game: If someone is better at studies than their friends, there is a chance the friends might make fun of them for being a “nerd” or a “know-it-all”. This can make students intentionally neglect their studies so that friends will stop making fun of them.
- Bullying: Your children might be facing bullying from their so-called friends and that can create a negative learning environment for them in school. This can distract them from their studies, and they might even become reluctant to go to school.
- Fight between friends: Sometimes, fights between friends can escalate to the point where it causes problems to their studies. If it escalates to violence, it can have severe repercussions.
- Intentional Sabotaging: Sometimes, people around you might not like you or even be jealous of you. They might try to act like your friends and then sabotage you.
What can be done?
- Parents and teachers need to make sure that they don’t intervene much in issues between children. Keep a distance, observe and take action only if needed.
- Train your children how to interact with people and maintain relationships from an early age. It will help them manage their friendships effectively.
- Teach your children how to manage conflicts and what should be done to de-escalate serious situations.
- Teach your children accountability. Even in distracting situations, teach them the importance of completing their works and duties.
- Don’t put too much pressure on your children. Try to create a positive environment for them at home where they feel comfortable talking to you about their issues.
- If you are a student and find your friends distracting you, what you need to do is effectively communicate with them and let them know you aren’t comfortable with their actions.
- Try to get your friends together and form workgroups so that you and them can utilize time together effectively.
- If you’re being bullied, don’t feel afraid to reach out to parents or teachers. Not getting help will only worsen your situation. Even if you consider them your friends, it won’t do any good for them or you to keep it from people who can help.
- Teach your children to discern friends with good intentions from those who are trying to sabotage them. Try talking to your children regularly and hint to them if you sense anything wrong.
- Try to keep in mind that your education is ultimately the reason why you go to school.
- Parents should also keep in mind that you shouldn’t tell your children to stop being friends with someone without giving them a proper explanation. If you force your child to break friendships, they could develop negative feelings towards you and could cause them to neglect their studies as a protest against you.
Students,
Parents,
The Final take
Friendships are an essential part of everyone’s lives. But, if not managed properly, it can cause issues in life and distract you from important daily life duties. A school is a social institution. It is a precursor to society, where children develop skills that they would need to live in a connected world. Building good friendships are essential to a child’s proper development. So, don’t discourage them from making friends out of the fear of them getting distracted. Parents have to make sure their children grow up competent and resilient to issues.
Try to find a balance between hand-holding and letting them handle things on their own. Here’s to building better friendships for ourselves and our children! 😊
Exam Smart Tips
Exam Smart Tip #1 – How to Encourage Our Kids to Speak Better?
Exam Smart Tip #2 – How to avoid carelessness?
Exam Smart Tip #3 – Establishing Routines!
Exam Smart Tip #4 – Let’s Read Carefully!
Exam Smart Tip #5 – Beating the Exam Fever!
Exam Smart Tip #6 – How to Eat Right for the Exams?
Exam Smart Tip #7 – How to Avoid a Meltdown?
Exam Smart Tip #8 – Taking Stress out of Tests
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