Being a friend

We’ve all been there. You’re in the park/ at the soft play/ at a friend’s house. Your children appear to be playing happily, then out of the blue it happens. You hear a wail, turn around and realise another child has set upon yours with a heavy toy, or perhaps worse, you recoil in shame as you witness your child turn on one of their ‘friends’ seemingly out of nowhere.





The best thing you can do to develop these skills is to talk to your children and encourage them to come up with solutions themselves. ‘How do you think James felt when you took his cars away?’(!) How does it make you feel when people take your cars?’ ‘You and James both want to play with the train, how could we make it fair?’.



This can happen as children begin to develop friendship groups, but where children learn aggressive behaviour, bullying can become part of their tactic for getting what they want. One of the big challenges is where some children are 'bossy' it can feel like bullying to other children, this why it is important that children know what it means to be both a good friend and to be friendly.

Children can start to bully another child for lots of different reasons. This can be because they think they are having a joke, or because they are angry at the other person, however most often there is a difference about the other child they don't like.




Organisations like the Anti-Bullying Alliance have lots of resources for parents and can point you in the direction of any further help and support you and your child may need.

If you believe your child might be bullying another child, it is really important to explain to them that harmful behaviour is not appropriate, that it can be really up-setting and hurtful. Having the conversation about what it means to be a good friend is really important, as is talking to them about difference.


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