Parents can help their kids cope with bullies and navigate the exclusive nature of cliques by helping them find mentors and encouraging them to discover their strengths, Allen said. If a kid is in martial arts or playing sports, they're empowered and believe in themselves. You give them just enough information and support that they learn it on their own. Sometimes parents have to know when to step back and allow their teens to experience some conflict, experts say. That's a mistake.
Conflict allows kids to realize that they're different.
Parents need to remember that it's normal for teens to be best friends one week, not speaking to each other the next, and then good friends again, Sheehy said. You can't be special if just anyone can belong. Indeed, many junior high students said their friendships had changed somewhat throughout junior high school, and they expected them to change significantly by the time they entered high school. I think it might change in high school with some of them. In high school, you hang around more with people who do the same activities as you.