Teenage is the beautiful life period where your kid learns so many things. Love. Friendship. Romance. And develop a personality and mindset that will remain forever with him or her. But at times, your teen doesn’t engage with the community as he or she should. Reasons can vary. You maybe shift to a new place, or he/she’s shy. Or perhaps, your teen is facing some psychological disturbance. Whatever the reason is, antisocial behavior is not a good sign for his or her personality. Here comes the question of how to help your teenager make friends?
I’ve got you covered with some proven strategies. Note, you’re not going to dictate or impose things. You can or should provide a few suggestions based on these provided strategies and leave the rest of the stuff on your teen. If you micromanage, it will have an adverse effect on the teen’s personality and psychological grooming. Let’s get down to the techniques which will help your teenager to make friends and enjoy life to the fullest.
Extracurricular activities
Find the interest of your child. Based on his or her interest, facilitate your teen to participate in those activities. These can be sports, band, theatre, art, robotics, or anything else. Encourage him or her to team up with other members and contribute something to the group. That’s how to help your teenager make friends. Ultimately, when a teen engages within the group, friends will be made. Fights and loves will come into play. Smiles and cries go all along. And eventually, your teen will get better, resilient, and active.
Host parties at home
If your adolescent fails to connect with others or hesitates to go out for parties, arrange covid-safe parties at home. Invites his or her classmates or cousins. Plans get together. It can be a pizza party, movie, sport, or any activity that your teen might love. When fun starts, stay behind the scenes. Supervision is important, but there’s a fine line between keeping an eye on the group and intruding into their circle. Don’t interfere with every small thing. Let them make noise, whisper, and argue. Gradually, your teen will find confidence which would help him/her to keep engaging and building personality.
Encourage your teen to go on the trips
Just in case if the teen doesn’t prefer to go on school trips, suggest he or she should go on the camp-setting trips. In such a setting, teens will come from different backgrounds and places, and most likely, your teen will find a match to hangout. Your child will thrive and get excited. The end result would be delighted. If appropriate, send your teen for a night stay at the place of his or her bestie. But be sure to verify the environment is conducive and harmless. There shouldn’t be drugs or anything that might stretch your teen into bad habits. Your objective is to help your teen to make friends, not to fall for bad habits. When he/she comes back, don’t bombard him or her with the questions. Just listen to what he has to say and take an interest in the conversation.
Brush up his conversational style and communication skills
Spend an hour talking about his favorite subject. Ask questions and share opinions. If he agrees to discuss his queries, fears, and anxieties, be sure to consult with an open mind. Don’t ever judge because he’ll not be expecting this from you. Explain politely and always spot positivity. That’s all. Slowly but sturdily, he’ll ace at communication and speaking. Respect his introverted personality while keep polishing his argumentative skills.
Teach your child to handle awkward moments
When at the lowest, a child makes a few blunders. Tell him it’s okay. Suggest some of the ways where he can turn situations in his favor. Also, to build positive relationships with peers, kids need to think of peaceful ways to resolve conflicts. They need to understand what other people need and want; they must be capable of anticipating the consequences of various actions. Gradually, take him into confidence and explain how his rude behavior or anger leave negativity on others. Solve his psychological problems.
Another significant aspect is expressing remorse and apologizing. Tell him… “It happens to everyone. We mess up. We make a terrible judgment. We cause harm or bad feelings.
What happens next? If we are shamed for our mistakes, we tend to focus on our own negative emotions. We may feel humiliation, resentment, and even anger. And that doesn’t help us repair our social relationships.”
By saying that, you’re communicating that forget and forgiveness are excellent qualities. The child will then apologize if he does something wrong, plus he’ll also start forgiving others. In the end, this would become part of his personality and help him a lot in life.
Take him on the family dinners and give importance
Take him on the dinners, appreciate his qualities in front of the people, and where appropriate, ask him to demonstrate his skills. For instance, singing, painting, poetry, specific info, or anything your child has a competitive edge. On the other side, make him responsible for a few things, such as taking care of the home when you’re outside, clean his own room, and other minor tasks. This way, the sense of responsibility will make him feel worthy and essential. This would ultimately add positivity.
The bottom line
how to help your teenager who has no friends? The strategies mentioned above will help you a lot. However, keep in mind you don’t have to impose things. Instead, let your child’s personality shine. A few teens prefer to stay alone, and they have no psychological issues. It’s the way they are. They love what they’re doing, and they want to keep up the same. In this case, there is nothing to be worried about. However, if violence and anger are getting severe, you can seek the assistance of a psychologist. But all in all, you should lend a hand and don’t ever threaten or blackmail emotionally. It’ll have an adverse effect.
