Yarrabing Secondary College Newsletter

Student Wellbeing

Peri Georgakakis - Student Wellbeing Leader

Friendships 

Friendships are an integral part of adolescent life. It is an essential part of social and emotional development. They bring pleasure, comfort, fun and opportunities to learn and develop in the social world. 

 

Friends help us build confidence, feel a sense of belonging and can help us to feel good about ourselves. The best way to make friends is to be open to speaking to lots of different people and looking for connections and commonalities. 

 

Good friendships have good benefits:

  • Friendships help to increase positivity, empathy and altruism.
  • Having friends boosts happiness, well-being and self-confidence, and promotes a positive outlook on life.
  • Healthy friends can reduce stress.
  • Positive friendships can help encourage good behaviour.
  • Creates a sense of belonging with friends who share the same interests.
  • Boosts sense of purpose and decreases loneliness. 

6 signs of healthy friendships:

  1. Support, trust and honesty. Create a healthy environment for the friendship to bloom. Show-up for a friend when you say you will. 
  2. Be a good listener. Sometimes friends need to be heard. Demonstrate good listening without judgement.
  3. Respect friends boundaries. Know what the boundaries are. 
  4. Forgiveness. 
  5. Treat your friend as you would want to be treated.
  6. Ditch the judgement and comparison. We are all different and unique. 

Remember: no friendship is perfect. Friendships should be two-way, and not just about one person alone. Everyone should feel valued and included. 

 

6 signs of unhealthy friendships: 

  1. Gossiping and put-downs.  
  2. Friends that make you feel nervous, unsafe and unsettled.
  3. Getting into trouble because of your friend/s.
  4. Friends that expect you to be there for them 24/7 and get mad if you are not.
  5. Making all the decisions and not include you.
  6. Taking jabs at you, or speaking to you one day and ignoring you the next.

We can make friends during all stages of our lives. Some friends come and go, and that’s okay. 

 

Be willing to put your best foot forward and have as many positive interactions with peers as possible.

 

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