HEARTBREAK HIGH
Moving on to college or a new school may mean leaving a best friend behind - and when teenagers split up, it can seem tike the end of the world. If a row ends the friendship, it can be even worse. There may be tears, black moods and a host of places now out of bounds, ‘because they’ll be there’. So what can you do? Expert suggest the following:
1.Don’t dismiss the problem as trivial, or adolescents’ reactions as melodramatic. Remember that it’s important to them.
2.Don’t tell them what to do - among the young, relationships have a different set of rules that you may not understand.
3.Give them plenty of time to talk about it. Don’t invite them to open up while you’re getting supper ready or are about to dash out.
4.If they can’t talk openly to you, encourage them to confide in someone else.
5.Reassure them that conflict doesn’t have to mean the end of a friendship.
6.Help them realise that friendships can change and survive - teenagers are bound to have new relationships if they go to different colleges, but it needn’t mean breaking with their old friends.
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