My friends and me (A first look at friendship)

My friends and me

(A first look at friendship)

You probably know lots of other children, lots of other people.

But only a few of them are your friends.

Some people like to have lots of friends around them.

And other people like to have one or two special friends that they play with most of the time.

A friend can be anyone, or anything, that you enjoy being with.

It can even be someone who you can laugh and be loud with.

Or someone you can play quietly with.

Have you ever thought about what makes a good friend?

A friend is someone who you feel comfortable and safe with.

It is someone who shares, and keeps their promises.

A friend tries to understand how you feel – even if they do not feel it themselves.

It is someone who encourages you to be yourself – even if it means being different from others.

Occasionally you might think someone is a friend – even if they are mean to you or always getting you into trouble.

But a true friend won’t ask you to do things that would get you into trouble with your parents or your teachers.

Anyone who does this does not deserve your friendship.

Sometimes, without meaning to, you may say or do something that hurts your friend.

You may get jealous when they play with someone else and try to take your friendship away.

But friendship is often best when you can share it around.

And with a good friend it is not so hard to say, ‚I am sorry,‘ when you have done something hurtful.

Everybody has days when they think nobody likes them.

And it is not always easy to make friends, especially if your feel shy.

But the best way to have a friend is to be a friend. Many friendships start because one person did something nice for another.

There are lots of things in life that you do not have a choice about. You have to go to school, and brush your teeth and eat your vegetables.

But you do have a choice about which people are your friends.

Every day you will meet lots of different people. You should always try to be kind and fair to everyone you meet. But this does not mean that you have to be friends with everyone.

You can know someone and get along with them without being their friend.

You also have a choice about how you behave with your friends. You can choose whether to be nice or mean, whether to argue or make peace.

If you choose to do things like hitting, shouting or being rude, you may find it is a lot harder to make friends. Other people only want to be with you when you treat them well.

Having a friend and being a friend can make you feel good about yourself.

And when you feel good about yourself, anything is possible.