Teenagers can forge bonds in high school that will last a lifetime. Teenage friendship often takes the lead in social interactions at this age, and many teens struggle to develop lasting friendships. Strong, supportive relationships can grant teens a great advantage as they move into college and the workforce. These ties can also help teens develop useful life skills including the ability to:
- Build lifelong bonds
- Develop strength of character
- Learn to appreciate others
- Deal with adversity
Challenges
Many teens face a number of challenges as they start to form friendships in high school and beyond. Friendship issues may arise due to differences in race, gender or for any number of socioeconomic reasons. Teens may be unwilling to speak to others in a new school or engage in popular activities when they first move to a new location. Even students established in a location may face the challenges of shyness or introversion as they look to gain friends among their peers. Many teens turn to a sports group or other club that meets their interest to help them find groups of students that share their own interests.
Cliques
Teens may face the problem of social cliques, circles of friends that do not easily admit outsiders, as they seek new friends. Cliques can be based on many different criteria, ranging from fashion sense to shared backgrounds, and often form over the course of years spent together. Cliques can be very insular groups and may be dangerous if the students involved are very close and suspicious of outsiders. Many teens may choose instead to form their own groups, which may evolve into exclusive cliques over time, due to this.
Peer Pressure
Some groups of friends place great importance on appearance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 18 percent of children aged 12 to 19 are obese. Weight problems can add emotional stress and social awkwardness to the equation, making teens even more likely to succumb to peer pressure in their attempts at making new friends. Obese teens must struggle to balance food intake and exercise to help overcome this problem. According to the CDC, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24. Peer pressure can lead to this as well as lesser ill effects on the health and well-being of many teens.
Building Lifelong Relationships
Supportive relationships built during the teenage years can bolster teens’ self-confidence and give them resources to assist with later periods of their lives. Teens should not fear reaching out to others and should strive to maintain outgoing and accepting personalities. Being denied access to cliques or faltering at some sports may instill in teens a sense of fair play and a desire to become inclusive to prevent others from suffering the same feelings of rejection. Should teens become overly upset due to the challenges of making friends, school counselors may offer them the insight they need to find the right groups that appeal to their needs and personality.
