6 Ways to Help Your Child Thrive Socially in Middle School
Camp Kupugani is our multicultural summer camp located in Northwest Illinois close to Chicago, IL, and Madison, WI. We at Camp Kupugani know that middle school can be a challenging social time; hormones are doing odd things, children are learning more about themselves than ever before, people are placing pressure on children to decide what they want to do. That can be a lot for a child to process. We found this article from The Washington Post that can help you support your middle-schooler to thrive in middle school. See our takeaways below and the full article here.
- Children have many new social situations in middle school
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- Friendships are changing
- Listen; don’t always get involved
- Avoid discount the importance of peers
- Friendships are changing
- Distinguish between neutral and threatening behavior
- Tweens often misinterpret neutral behavior as negative, so help your child realistically appraise a situation.
- If your child mourns not being invited to a birthday party, for instance, you might want to remind them that they didn’t invite that kid to their party.
- Tweens often misinterpret neutral behavior as negative, so help your child realistically appraise a situation.
- Regroup after experiencing social setbacks
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- Help them process their feelings when they lose a friend
- Validate your children’s sorrows
- Help them establish ownership over their friendships
- Reframe risk-taking in social settings
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- Recognize the the courage it takes to step out of their comfort zones
- Risk-taking is not the absence of fear…it is about leveraging other emotions
- Have your child start with a “small risk”
- Build their capacity for compassion
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- Empathy can help your children connect with others
- Empathy wanes when they are anxious
- Establish conversation pieces
- That happened to me, too
- You look sad; is that how you’re feeling?
- Assist them in choosing their battles
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- Pose questions that help them decide if a relationship is worth fighting for
- Is this a relationship you hope to repair?
- Do you have any power to solve it?
- Own your 2 percent, even if you believe it’s 98 percent the other kid’s fault
- If it is social media-based, have your child put the phone down
- Pose questions that help them decide if a relationship is worth fighting for
- Recognize the gap between intent and impact
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- Model positive listening techniques
- If your child profoundly struggles, seek professional help
- Feeling fulfilled in friendship is a key element of quality of life for everyone