High School Friendships
I asked my sixteen year old daughter to share some of the things she has learned about friendship in high school…
I went into my freshman year of high school confident, with my best friends by my side. Little did I know that these friendships were toxic, and these girls weren't really my friends. It started a couple of months into the first semester. I began to feel excluded and ignored by the former friends who I thought had my back. I wouldn't get responses to texts or calls, and no longer was invited to sleepovers on weekends. I started hearing gossip about me from these girls and it really hurt me. I tried to talk to my "friends", only to be pushed away and ignored even more. I felt lost and extremely insecure. I had no one to talk to at school, no one to hang out with on weekends, and no one to lean on when I was having a bad day.
After several months of this, I realized the only way to make new friends was to put myself out there and gain some of my confidence back. I reached out to friends in classes and hung out with many different groups of girls. After bouncing from group to group, I thought it would be a good idea to reach out to an old friend I had known for a while but had never really hung out with. This was a good idea. She introduced me to some of her close friends and I began to hang out with them pretty often. Summer came along and these girls stuck with me. I finally had found a genuine, real friendship.
Skip halfway through sophomore year, and our group expanded. I have never been happier. The friendships I have with these girls are the best thing that has happened to me. Each one of my friends has amazing qualities and don't only think of themselves.
Reputation is a big deal to a lot of girls in high school. They feel the need to pick the right group of girls (only to end up being the wrong group) to look better and seem more popular. It's so important to find out which girls to stay away from. Putting yourself into a toxic friendship can leave you feeling lonely and insecure. Finding genuine friends who support you and care about your well being can be difficult but not impossible. I learned the hard way but feel confident in my friendships now and love my friends like family.
