September- Friendship

Bobcat Value: Friendship 

"Research shows that establishing friendships is an important developmental goal for children under the age of seven. Friendships developed during the preschool and early school years give children valuable contexts in which to learn and practice skills related to social, cognitive, communicative, and emotional development.

For example, by learning how to navigate their early childhood friendships, children learn:

• How to be sensitive to the viewpoint of others

• How to use standard rules of conversation

• What constitutes age-appropriate behavior

Additionally, the benefits of friendship for children are similar to the benefits of having friends as adults. Friendships benefit children by creating a sense of belonging and security and reducing stress. Child psychologists find early childhood friendships contribute to children’s quality of life and ability to adjust to changes within their environments as well."'

(source: https://www.exchangefamilycenter.org/exchange-family-center-blog/2019/10/1/the-benefits-of-early-childhood-friendships-and-3-tips-for-helping-your-child-establish-meaningful-friendships)

Healthy Friendships & Friendship Boundaries

We spend a lot of time talking to our children and students about the importance of friendship: making and keeping friends. Sometimes, we spend time talking about what to do when there’s a conflict in a friendship. What we don’t always do, at least not explicitly, is spend time teaching kids about what healthy friendships look like and what friendship boundaries are. As grownups though, we know how important this is! It’s also important for children. They usually get the basics (don’t kick, share, be nice) but they need us to help them understand some of the more complex parts of friendship both responsively and proactively.

WHAT IS A HEALTHY FRIENDSHIP?

Like other skills or ideas, it’s helpful to be really explicit and specific when you teach students about healthy friendships. Depending on your group, there’s a few different elements of friendship you might want to teach about:

• Support
• Encouragement
• Respect
• Trustworthiness
• Loyalty
• Fun/Happiness/Togetherness
• Being Yourself
• Be a Good Sport

(source: https://theresponsivecounselor.com/2021/03/teaching-kids-about-healthy-friendships-and-friendship-boundaries.html)

Take Action! 

Kids of all ages can make a difference in the community – locally and around the world.  Performing service and volunteer projects for kids strengthens a family and supports personal integrity.  Luckily for us, there are some great places to volunteer in Metro Atlanta.

Click the image below for some great ideas!