Trying to figure out friendship is all a part of growing up. Your child may want to have a BFF or, they might prefer to have a group of friends to hang out with. Being part of a group can help your little one learn a lot of skills that will be useful later on in life.
A group of friends VS a clique
Groups are often formed when people find that they have something in common with others. Jocks, skaters and dancers are naturally drawn to one another because they share similar interests.
Some groups stick together for a long period of time, while other drift apart and develop new interests or, they simply find that they have less in common.
How do cliques work?
Cliques are groups that usually have a restricted membership. Rather than having the main focus on shared values and beliefs, a lot of cliques focus on maintaining their status and popularity.
Certain cliques will try to make it look as if they are better than people who are in different groups. They might try to hurt others on purpose either by excluding them, or being mean. In serious cases, a person outside the group can be victimized for looking and acting differently.
Unlike normal groups, that allows members to do as they like, people in a clique do everything together. They will only interact with other people who they think might be “cool.”
Some people might think it’s better to be in a clique than to be excluded. However, a lot of the times, people in cliques end up dealing with lots of pressures and rules.
Parents should remind their tween to have a mind of their own because quite often, people in cliques won’t last forever. Very soon, they realise that bossing people around is not the way true friendship work.
Tell them that the secret to having good friends is to be one as well. When they start being the kind of friend they would like to have, they will start to attract the right people into their lives.
