The Value of Friends

"Establishing and sustaining friends over a lifetime is essential for individual well-being, and for emotional and social support over the life trajectory," writes Susan Danby from Australia's Queensland University of Technology in the Bernard van Leer Foundation publication, Developing Positive Identities:  Diversity and Young Children. 

"Friendships are important for children because friends help each other understand the world in which they live.  It is known that the quality of children's friendships affects their development of a personal and social identity....  Children with friends, even one friend, have better social skills and fewer adjustment problems.  Friends provide social support and can protect against the difficulties of starting school, the birth of a sibling, family conflict and different family settings, behavior troubles, victimization and bullying.  Children starting school seem to like school better and adjust better if they have formed friendships."

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