Time
10-20 minutes
Level
Primary / Junior / Intermediate
Material
Writing materials
Purpose
To invite students to extend their network of friends by including students with whom they do not usually interact
Discuss:
- Everyone needs to feel that they matter and having fun with friends can help us feel that way.
- What does it mean to be a good friend?
Ask:
- Students to write who they feel their friends are and hand in to the educator. This lets the educator know which students have good peer networks and those who don’t.
- Students to reach out and “be a good friend” to someone who wasn’t on their list. NOTE: This can be done as a group rather than a one-on-one activity.
Discuss:
- How did this make them feel? What they learned? What will they do differently?
NOTE: It is important that students feel included in the process and that they aren’t “voluntold” to be friends with others.
- This can also be a “checking in activity”, i.e., make sure you check in “as a good friend” during recess. This also ties in well with the concept of inclusivity.
Students who have quality friendships are less likely to both engage in, and be victims of bullying, even if they have a tendency to act out or be socially withdrawn (Bollmer, Milich, Harris, & Maras, 2005). This is because students can use quality friendships to learn to regulate their emotions and behaviour in a socially appropriate way (Caspi, Henry, McGee, Moffitt, & Silva, 1995; Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie, & Reiser, 2000). Encouraging students to engage in more quality friendships will encourage prosocial behaviour in the classroom.
Bollmer, J., Milich, R., Harris, M., & Maras, M. (2005). A Friend in Need: The Role of Friendship Quality as a Protective Factor in Peer Victimization and Bullying. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(6), 701-712. doi:10.1177/0886260504272897
Caspi, A., Henry, B., McGee, R. O., Moffitt, T. E., & Silva, P. A. (1995). Temperamental Origins of Child and Adolescent Behavior Problems: From Age Three to Age Fifteen. Child Development, 66(1), 55-68. doi:10.2307/1131190
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Guthrie, I. K., & Reiser, M. (2000). Dispositional Emotionality and Regulation: Their Role in Predicting Quality of Social Functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1), 136-157. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.78.1.136
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