One of the most important values for the human being is friendship. People are social beings in an innate way and from when they are little they begin to create such bonds of friendship. In the case of children, friendship has an essential meaning and very important in every way.
The importance of friendship during childhood
Friendship is an essential value in children since thanks to it they develop emotionally and socially. Since they are very young, they look for a similar one with whom they can play and have fun. There is nothing happier for a child than being able to share a nice time with another child.
There are a number of benefits that friendship brings to children:
- Having friends helps the child to learn another series of values in life like trust or loyalty.
- Tolerance and empathy are other values that children learn from having friends.
- The power to solve problems and cooperating with all friends is another benefit that friendship brings to children.
- You learn to listen and to give an opinion on numerous matters that may arise in the group of friends.
The evolution of friendship during childhood
The experts indicate that the friendship begins to forge from the two more or less. Children at that age are already able to choose those with whom they have fun and have fun. It is the famous stage of parallel play, that is, each child plays independently but sharing a common space.
Over the years, children are able to choose their friends according to their hobbies or their way of being. In late childhood and early adolescence, children become selective about their friends.
It is quite common and normal for young children to change friends on a frequent basis. In childhood, friendship is part of the learning process in which there are continuous disputes and discussions. It is something that usually happens until children mature.
Upon reaching the age of 6 and as the child matures, the concept of a best friend appears for the first time. He is practically his shadow and comes to trust him more than his own parents. They see each other at all hours of the day and share good things and bad moments. In this stage of childhood, it is when the first disappointments arrive, such as the breakdown of a great friendship. In such years, friendship becomes very important to any child.
With the passing of the years and the arrival of adolescence, the friendship gains great strength. Young people come to a time when they trust their friends more than their own parents. It is normal and common for adolescents to spend very little time at home, while they are in the street with friends.
During adolescence, the circle of friends is much more important than it may seem at first. The types of friends have little or little influence on the personality of the young person. Friends must influence in a positive and healthy way, otherwise the young person's life may be upset by the presence of bad habits such as alcohol or drugs.
In short, friendship is essential for any child since it depends on it being able to develop fully both emotionally and socially. A childhood without friends is not conceivable since it is something natural in every human being. If the child has an antisocial character it is essential to take him to a professional who can treat him in time.