Toxic friends make you feel lonely, stressed, and guilty. They diminish your self-esteem, blame you for their mistakes, and make you suffer in friendship. Being with a toxic friend may hamper your happiness and well-being. As a parent, you can make your child understand the signs of a toxic friend and help them know how to end a friendship in such cases.
According to Dr. Sarah Lyall-Neal, a mother and writer, Toxic people unfortunately don’t come with a warning label. My 7-year-old self didn’t recognize the blaring red flags indicating toxicity. My friend could be a lot of fun. We loved playing Barbies, even when we were old enough we felt the need to hide it. We also made up all kinds of adventures to go on at each other’s houses. In the meantime, she was tearing down my self-esteem every chance she got. At school, she talked about me behind my back and spread rumors that I would only find out about later (i).