Daily Tips for Families

Today's Tip for Families

02-04-2022

Let Your Teen Learn to Cope with Social Drama

Last week, Alex was your teen's best friend. Now your teen is furious because of a comment Alex made to another friend.

Social bruises like this are typical for teens, and they can affect schoolwork as well as social lives. At one time or another during school, many teens will:

Have a significant fight with a friend. They may start it, or their friend may start it.
Lose an important friend, either by getting dropped by that person or by dropping that person.
Be on the receiving end of a mean or nasty comment or action, or be on the giving end of meanness.
Be the object of gossip. Most teens gossip about others.
Be excluded in some way from a group they want to belong to or an event they want to attend, or exclude someone else from a group.

The first thing that stands out in this list is that teenagers are likely to be on both the giving and receiving ends of these negative behaviors. Your teen isn't the only one to have feelings hurt by a friend. Odds are, your teen has also hurt a friend's feelings.

As tempting as it may be to intervene in these friendship problems, it's best to let your teen sort them out. When you step in to rescue your teen, you send the message, "I don't think you can do it on your own."

Provide a listening ear and stay on the sidelines, unless the problem becomes a serious one—your teen feels physically threatened, for example, or the teasing has become so constant that it is harassment or bullying. If a truly serious pattern exists, call the school to get help from a counselor or administrator.

Brought to you by:

Webster County Schools

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