With Valentine’s Day and Random Acts of Kindness Day around the corner, we’d like to take some time to celebrate and honor the value of friendships. Friendships are important at almost every age, but making friends doesn’t come naturally for everyone. Some children and youth struggle socially and have trouble making and keeping friends. At Acknowledge Alliance, we help students learn how to make friends and be a good friend through our social emotional learning lessons. Learning these skills is a vital part of a student’s social and emotional development that will endure throughout their lives.
Being a good friend is connected to many other social emotional skills, such as communicating effectively, understanding strengths, being able to resolve conflicts, and showing empathy toward others. Students shared:
“Before I participated in social emotional learning, I used to fight with my sister. I used to not like solving with teamwork. I used to barely make any friends.”
“I learned what empathy means. I learned how to be a better friend, and that my friend and I are great friends by being empathetic.”
Empathy is the ability to understand how someone else is feeling and allows others to feel understood and cared for. Empathy helps deepen connections and build lasting relationships. Friends who understand each other are able to give more support during tough times, remind each other of their strengths, and are more equipped to resolve conflicts when they arise.
Friends also help each other build resilience. Healthy friendships can increase our sense of belonging, boost our happiness, reduce stress, gain more confidence, motivate us to achieve our goals, and help us cope with our struggles. Being connected with friends is a way we feel closer to others, which in turn can inspire us to be more kind and help other people outside of our inner circle. Can you think of how your friendships impacted you?
Here are some creative ideas to show appreciation to your friends while being physically distanced, but socially connected:
Send someone a handwritten letter or homemade card in the mail. This could turn into a fun pen-pal exchange.
Put artwork in the window so that friends, families, or neighbors can see when they walk or drive by.
Create online hangouts like organized movie nights, virtual sleepovers, trivia games, scavenger hunts, and book clubs.
Host a virtual dinner party and eat “together” by cooking the same dish or having a themed cuisine night.
Write a chain letter story with friends through text, email, or Google Docs - each takes a turn writing one sentence at a time until you have an entire story written.
Draw an encouraging message or something you’re thankful for. Take a picture of it (or a selfie with you and the note) and send it to your friend. Continue the conversation with a call.
Whichever way you choose to connect and celebrate with your friends, we hope you cherish the quality time together with lots of love and kindness!