Having friends, and finding new friendships is an important developmental task for preteens and teens. While they have learned to play well with others during their childhood, developing independent friendships is a different thing. Preteens and teens will be allowed to use their own resources to decide whether to be someone’s friend or not, instead of being taught by their parents. Parents must give their teenagers some freedom in choosing who they want to hang out with. You can help your teens to choose their friends, although it’s your teenagers who make the final decision. You can use teachable moments to talk about what makes a good friend. Here are some points to remember when you talk about friendships with your teenagers: 1) You are allowed to have many friends; 2) Honesty is important in a friendship; 3) Friends sometimes hurt each other, but they can say sorry and forgive(原谅); 4) Friends can influence each other, sometimes they will help you but sometimes they will hurt you, too. 5) Who you choose to be your friend is important, so choose wisely; 6) It takes many learned skills to make and keep a friendship, and it also takes many skills to end a friendship; 7) It is okay and even helpful to make friends with the opposite gender(异性); 8) It takes time to make a good friend, but it is worth the effort; 9) Spending time together will help you get to know your friends well and you will feel comfortable sharing feelings; 10) A good friendship will make you feel good about yourself. 小题1:What should their parents do when teenagers make friends?
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