Friendships

Friendships play an important role during your teenage years and as you move into early adulthood. This is a time when relationships can change, grow, and sometimes become more complex.

Healthy friendships should make you feel comfortable, supported, and able to be yourself without pressure or judgement.

A good friend is someone who:

• Listens and takes you seriously

• Respects your choices and boundaries

• Makes you feel included and valued

• Supports you through challenges

Healthy friendships are not perfect, but they are built on strong foundations:

• Trust – you feel able to rely on each other

• Respect – you treat each other fairly and kindly

• Honesty – you can be yourself without pretending

• Support – you encourage each other through ups and downs

• Balance – effort and care go both ways

😊 A healthy friendship should add to your life, not take away from it.

As friendships become more complex, it’s important to recognise when something doesn’t feel right.

You might notice:

• Feeling consistently left out or unimportant

• Being spoken about behind your back

• Pressure to act in ways that don’t feel right to you

• One-sided effort, where you are always trying harder

• Feeling controlled, criticised, or put down

• Emotional ups and downs that leave you feeling drained

🚩 If a friendship regularly affects your confidence or wellbeing, it’s worth paying attention to.

Open communication becomes even more important as you get older.

It can help to:

• Be honest about how you feel, even when it’s difficult

• Listen to understand, not just to respond

• Take responsibility when you’ve made a mistake

• Approach disagreements calmly rather than reacting straight away

🗣️ Disagreements are normal — respect and understanding are what keep friendships healthy.

As you become more independent, setting boundaries becomes more important.

You have the right to:

• Say no without feeling guilty

• Take space when you need it

• Have different friendships and interests

• Speak up if something doesn’t feel right

✔️ Healthy friendships respect your independence
❌ Unhealthy ones may try to control or limit it

Friendships often change during this stage of life, and that’s normal.

Some ways to build and maintain them:

• Be genuine — you don’t need to change who you are

• Put effort into staying connected

• Be reliable and supportive

• Accept that not all friendships will last, and that’s okay

Friendship challenges can feel intense, especially during times of change.

If things feel difficult, you could:

• Talk to someone you trust

• Reach out to a teacher, youth worker, or support service

• Take a step back to reflect on what you need from friendships

💛 You deserve friendships where you feel respected, supported, and valued.