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Benefits of Childhood Friendship

A study was done on the subject of friendship. In this study 97 fourth graders were examined and 53% were male. The study focused on salivary cortisal levels in relation to peer relationships of the various children. Saliva was collected five times a day for two school days. The results of this experiment show that not having friends, or being excluded or victimized has a direct influence on cortisal levels. The study also shows that social rejection seriously affects the human stress system. This is particularly true in the mid childhood years because this is the time when stress as a result of peer rejection is most common. The experiment also proved that friendship protects against negative affects of peer rejection on children’s adjustment and well-being. (Peters, 2011) Friendship is important for a child’s emotional, physical, and developmental well-being. Children learn many important life lessons as a result of early friendships. Children gain skills in communication, regulation of emotions, conflict resolution, and cooperation. (Crossman, 2009) By having friends they also learn to experiment with different forms of interaction, set up rules, weigh options, and solve problems. They also discover how to win, lose, and how to behave appropriately to different situations. They also will observe social standings, fairness, power, and how these things affect the world around them. Possibly the most important thing that children learn through friendship is how to see as others see. (Pope) By gaining the ability to walk in another’s shoes children can develop properly in social situations. If children never learned this skill than there would be adults throwing tantrums over bank loans in public, and sobbing when they lose their keys. Through friends kids also experience various emotions for the first time and learn how to deal with them. Some of these are fear, anger, aggression, and rejection. (Pope) A bonus of friendship is the friendship itself. Friendship is mainly doing things for and with each other. Also children who acquire friendships at a young age are far more likely to maintain and form new friendships as adults. When children choose friends they generally choose people that have the same interests. This gives the children someone to explore their interests with. They can play together and experiment with their sense of creativity. They will learn who they are through their friends and peers. Research shows that children engaged in friendships have a greater sense of well-being, self-esteem, and fewer social issues when entering adulthood. Friendship is absolutely essential for the healthy psychological development of children. (Pope)

Downside of Not Having Childhood Friendship	

Children without friends are more likely to have issues in various aspects of their development, education, and eventually their careers. Unfortunately about 10% of the population have no friends or are not accepted by their peers. (Williams, 1996) Children without friends could express aggression, hyperactivity, and oppositional behavior. (Crossman, 2009) Without friends children are likely to feel lonely, victimized, depressed, or deviant. (Williams, 1996) Friends generally work together on schoolwork as well and if children do not have friends they are more likely to do poorly in school. Kids also find it more difficult to concentrate in class, and are less likely to try because they do not enjoy school even from a social aspect. In fact rejection could eventually lead to delinquency, mental health problems, and dropping out in the teenage years. 25% of students who feel rejected by other students will eventually drop out, compared to 8% of students who were accepted and had friends. (Williams, 1996) Kids who have social problems are also more likely to have employment issues in the future. (Jeong)

Downside of Having Childhood Friends

There are several downsides to friendship also, although friendship is far more beneficial to children than it is harmful. Some problems that will most likely result from friendships are bullying, peer pressure, and ending friendships. (Kelly, 2011) Children with friends may become bullies themselves or because they are comfortable with their group they may just accept it when others are bullied. Peer pressure could be negative or positive. An anti-social friend could discourage you from seeing other friends, or a friend could be a positive role model in school or other aspects of life. Ending friendships can be difficult, especially as a child because more kids do not know how to be tactful yet. This can result in problems with these former friends.

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