Importance of Friendships

Close friends often have a major impact on the choices that people make. A close

Young children are more likely to form friendships with children who they see on a regular basis. Preschool friends are more likely to maintain close proximity to one another than children who are not friends (Lindsey). The findings of this study suggest that mutual friendship is an important factor in children 's social development as early as the preschool years.

In the early 1970’s little was known regarding children’s friendships. Bigalow and La Gaipa (1975) assessed developmental differences by having grade school children write 480 essays on what they expected of their best friend that was not expected from other

Many children have attended a preschool or nursery before starting school, they are now entering a new setting and as part of a much larger group they will need to adapt to much more complex social situations (Yael Schmueli-Goetz). Yvonne Skipper said that 10%have trouble socially, without the friendships they do not have the opportunities to practice skills like ‘listening, responding, it may effect cognitive development because they may struggle more with listening instructions, and responding to teachers. (Yvonne Skipper o.u. video 2015 in Yael schmueli-Goetz.) By having friends children campractice the listening, responding and turn taking which will help them with the school routine once they begin their formal

Peer relationships are some of the most important interactions we have in our childhood. According to lecture (5/7/2015), these relationships help to build our social skills as well our social competence, creating a social acceptance amongst our peers. Our textbook (pg. 321) explains that peer relationships promote both physical and cognitive development. Once the child enters the preschool age they begin to differentiate friends from peers. A peer is simply an acquaintance, the child plays with them due to accessibility and similar background or social standing; however, a friend is someone with shared interests and associated with positive experiences. During this study into peer relationships in early and middle childhood, I interviewed two young girls. Kayla is 11 years old and Adison is 4 years old. While some of their views on friendship and peer interactions are similar, most of their views are worlds apart.

This shows that children are more inclined to create friendships which they have been exposed to previously linking what they believe, ethnicity and places they have been together, as something they have in

al., (2005), found that children who had a high-quality best friendship, were less likely to become and participate in bullying behaviors than those children who have a lower-quality best friendship. Per Bollmer et. al., (2005), having a high-quality friendship can protect some children from bullying because it gives the child an example of what a healthy relationship is and should look like. Malcolm et. al., (2006), found that as the quality of equal friendships increased both overt and relational bullying decreased. In addition, Malcolm et. al., (2006), found that the quality of the friendships is a predictor of lower levels of bullying. However, the quality of the friendship did not determine what the quality of the relationship would be overtime. Sainio, Veenstra, Huitsing, & Salmivalli, (2011), state that friendship could protect adolescents from bullying because friendships increase the adolescent’s psychosocial adjustment and therefore, decrease their

Every day we are socially interactive. Throughout work, school, phone calls, social media, etc. we must connect socially with others around us. That is why it is so important that children fully develop in all seven dimensions of wellness. " Children who learn positive friendship skills have been shown to develop better relationships with others, which benefits their mental health and wellbeing".

Peer relations is an important factor that affects the lives of many kids during their development. Kids under the popular group tend to be more collaborative with people around them. Those kids are more likely to start and maintain positive relationships. As the book of A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development describes, “ Popular children give out reinforcement, listen carefully, maintain open lines of communication with peers, are happy, control their negative emotions, show enthusiasm and concern for others, and are self-confident without being conceited” (520). The popular group tends to easily interact with other kids and usually express more their feelings and thoughts.

As a child I had a difficult time connecting with other people. I had many acquaintances but few friends and for a long time I was alright with this fact. It was not until freshman year of high school that I finally noticed my problem of being unsocial. There were two resources that made me aware of this and both helped me to become a more socially active person.

Close relationships among both younger and older children are usually described in terms of harmonious interaction, common interests, and social support. Friends are believed to come together and maintain their relationships on the basis of common ground and expectations that cost-benefit ratios will be generally favorable in their interactions. Children's friendships began to be studied at about the same time that developmental psychology was emerging as a separate discipline: W. S. Monroe (1899), an American, published a seminal study of children's friendships at the close of the 19th century dealing with children's expectations about their friends, what is valued in these relationships, and the organization of clubs and gangs. For example,

Relationships and positive interactions in children while growing up form the basis for their learning and development and this is determined by each child’s unique and personal attributes (National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative, 2010; Clinton, 2013). In order for children to make and keep friends, Stephens (2002, p. 1-2) reported that they must “recognize shared interests, gracefully join into play, pay attention to non-verbal communication cues, identify common goal, listen to and respect feelings, empathize with another person’s perspective, practice compassion, cooperate, accept others, include others and extend a trust-worthy, helping hand.” Development is a deliberate process and action, therefore, children have the innate desire

Friendships can occur in very young ages and can carry throughout a person's life.The friends that are made during elementary school

I was recently reading an article called The Importance of Friendships for School Aged Children by Ferrer & Fugate (2002), and in the article the authors argued that “Friends are vital to school-age children's healthy development…Friendships provide children with more than just fun playmates. Friendships help children develop emotionally and morally. In interacting with friends, children learn many social skills, such as how to communicate, cooperate, and solve problems” (pg.1). It is not until recently that I can see the importance and significance behind their words. Childhood friendships are a vital component to the social and emotional development of children. This period of time is also when a child is potentially introduced to a new

Is friendship part of one’s life? What are the requirements for a friend? Are friends there whenever one needs him or her? Is there constant communication between friends? How many people remember the lyrics from that Houdini song? “Friends, how many of us have them? Friends, the ones you can depend on.” The philosopher Aristotle said, “In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. They keep the young out of mischief; they comfort and aid the old in their weakness, and they incite those in the prime of life to noble deeds.”