Friendship and connection are extremely important to children’s health and wellbeing – a factor increasingly recognised by governments around the world, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdowns, and recognised in Article 15 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Although children and young people often want adults to stay out of their relationships they also appreciate learning about friendship from adults
they respect. They want to know how to be supportive of their friends, as well as how to ‘get out of’ a problematic friendship if one occurs.
Schools and governments can play a role in supporting children and young people to make friends by providing opportunities for children and young people to meet others their age in spaces and environments that are welcoming, safe, and well organised.