It is hard being in school when you feel isolated, yet so many children suffer isolation because they don't have the opportunity to or just have yet to meet like minded people. Children have to have the chance to try lots of different things to find what it is that they enjoy and sometimes as parents we have to encourage them to attempt new activities. This doesn't guarantee long lasting friendships but will certainly help to protect self esteem and build confidence in meeting new people through out their lives.
I have been a little concerned about one of my children and his isolation. But after catching up with a couple of friends the other evening realised that he is not alone. The children of my friends come across as lovely well rounded individuals, achieving their potential in school and any of the extra curricular stuff that they do, yet they have or are having similar problems.
When I think back to my teenage years, I didn't fit in at school in fact didn't really like it but I was lucky enough to meet up with like minded people through a swimming club. We were a crowd of boys and girls who grew up together, traversing our way through those adolescent dramas until I guess we outgrew each other. Now in the age of social media it is really easy to stay in contact even with people who live on the other side of the world and I still have contact with many of this group of people who played such an important role in the moulding of my personality.
Looking back I may not have enjoyed my school days per se, although there were some good times and my time in the sixth form definitely was the best two years of my school life, I made it through relatively unscathed and I suspect it helped to create the person I am today. Nowadays I will always smile and welcome anyone who is new in the playground, work or church. As I know lots of those in our community I would never leave someone out on the sidelines I still remember that "billy no mates feeling" quite clearly and will always endeavour to ensure that I would never knowingly leave someone else in my vicinity feeling like that.
Thinking of life like that means that I should have faith in my children and their future, at some point they will meet those who are to be life long friends but they will also meet many people who will be friends for a short time and those people are just as important because we as a society learn by trial and error, for each friendship mishap or decline if we take away all the good memories or learn about how to behave in different circumstances surely that will help us to become better, friendlier and more tolerant people.
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