One of the biggest challenges as a parent is helping your children develop positive and healthy relationships. In the elementary years, family is most important to children. Friends become increasingly more important as children get older.

How does your child know he/she has a good friend? Good friends...

• Listen to each other.
• Can disagree without hurting each other's feelings. Even good friends don't put each other down or hurt each other's feelings.
• Try to understand each other's feelings and moods.
• Help each other solve problems.
• Give each other compliments.
• Respect each other. Friends are trustworthy and dependable.
• Give each other room to change.
• Care about each other. Friends don't gossip or talk about each other.

Here are some things you can do to encourage your child to develop positive and healthy friendships:

• Be a good role model. Kids learn from watching what their parents do.
• Have conversations with your children about his or her friendships.
• Be alert for signs that your child talk with him or her about it.
• Watch for friendships that may involve negative activities like put-downs of other kids. Discuss how these things affect other people and help the child identify ways to fix the problem. Say, "What can you do to make it better?"
• Encourage your child to be thoughtful and helpful and to show appreciation when a friend does something thoughtful or helpful for them.

For more information, contact your child's school counselor or the School Based Public Health Nurse.

- Lynn Townsend, RN, School-Based Public Health Nurse