Teaching Your Children to be Good Friends

Childhood is difficult. Throw in a challenges with drugs, violence, society's standards on beauty, and what is deemed necessary to be an exemplary student, can quickly add to an already extraordinarily complicated life for a child. Teaching your children to be good friends can help your child with lessons that make help him or her with all the other obstacles life throws at them.

• Be a role model. Children learn so much from those that are around them on a daily basis. If you would like your children to learn courtesy and politeness with their friends, then do the same with your friends. Teach by example.
• Help your child say the word no. Learning to say no to situations that involve bullying and bad habits at a young age will carry help them through tougher scenarios as your children continue to grow up into young adults.
• Assist your children understand the importance of following rules set before them by authority figures such as parents, teachers, police, or firepersons. Understanding to abide by rules can aid your children avoid situations that might hurt them or others.
• Working with toddlers or pre-school children takes a different set of tools when teaching lessons. Children are visual young beings. Use their toys such as puppets, dolls, trucks to show how to become and stay good friends with children they want to play with. Putting on a small fun puppet show or throwing a dress up tea party with your children can help demonstrate good friendship traits at a level your children can understand.
• Talk to your children. During television shows where there are scenes showing bad or good behavior between children do not hesitate to explain to your children what made the television situation right or wrong. Answer any questions your children may have honestly. Explain the positive results and the consequences of inappropriate friendship behavior.
• Encourage children to watch and play video games enforcing positive friendship behavior. Play with your children and watch how they react to video game situations involving friendship decisions. Ask them questions and make it fun. Help your children convert a negative situation into a positive condition. It is never too young to learn positive thinking.
• Children will be children. Become aware of danger points such as depression, loss of appetite bursts of anger, and behavior that is unusual for your children. Consult teachers and professionals in the event you notice behavior that is unusual for your child.

It is never too late to teach acceptable social skills to your children. Teaching your children good friendship skills will help them grow up with habits and behavior that will last them a lifetime.