1. Safe and Healthy Friendships

2. Peer Relationships We will all have many types of friends
During adolescence, you continue to develop and strengthen your personal identity.
Factors that influence our development:
PEERS!!!!
Is it positive influence….. Or…….. Negative?

3. Friendships A significant relationship between two people
Similar values, interests, beliefs, and attitudes
Open and honest communication
Sharing of joys, disappointments, dreams and concerns
Mutual respect, caring and support
Concern about each other’s safety and well-being

4. Different types of friendships
Casual
Someone you share interests with but not a deep emotional bond
Close
Someone you have strong emotional ties to
Share thoughts, feelings and experiences
Platonic
A friendship with a member of the opposite gender in which there is affection, but the two people are not considered a couple
Online Friendships
Social networking
Dangerous and rewarding
Never share personal information
Do not offer your phone number or address
Never arrange a face to face meeting

5. Building Strong Friendships
Good friends offer loyalty, support and motivation
Mutual respect
Caring
Honesty
Commitment
Think………. Do your friends show the following?
Empathy
Fairness
Shared interests
Acceptance
Support
Loyalty

6. Recognizing problems in friendships
It is important that you know how to recognize problems in a friendship and how to resolve those problems
Positive or negative effects
Clique- a small circle of friends, usually with similar backgrounds or tastes, who exclude people viewed as outsiders
Positive or negative?

7. Managing feelings of envy or jealousy
Arises from one friend comparing himself or herself to another friend.
If you feel jealous of a friend, ask yourself the following questions:
What is making me feel jealous
Is my friend deliberately trying to make me feel this way
What can I do to manage or reduce these feelings? How can I feel better about myself?
Are these feelings of jealousy more important than our friendship?
What positive qualities make this person a good friend?

8. When friendships change
As you grow older, your friendships change. You may develop new interests. Sometimes you may end a friendship because it is becoming harmful.
Reasons you may end a relationship:
A friend pressures you to do something that is unsafe or goes against your values
A friend says hurtful and insulting things to you
A friend constantly tries to get you to change your beliefs or actions
Make sure to use “I” statements when explaining your feelings to this friend.