How to Make Friends at School
August 14th, 2008
Make Friends–Even on the very first day
School starts (in the United States) in just a few weeks for most kids.
Do you ever feel alone on the first day of school and want someone to talk to?
We will show you how to get friends on the first day and keep them too!
Steps
- Make a good first impression. People don’t usually mean to judge you, but they may do it anyway. Make sure your clothes are clean for your first day. Wash up and comb your hair. Fresh breath is really important too.
- Dress in a way that is your style, don’t worry about impressing people with clothes. You may feel like you need to have the latest or most expensive look to accepted. You don’t. Dress in a way that is comfortable for you. People will like you better if you don’t try to be someone you are not.
- Other kids are just as nervous as you are, maybe even more. Try to be friendly and chances are others will jump at the chance to talk to a nice person. Think how you would feel if a nice person talked to you.
- A lot of other new kids will be going through what you are all at once. A good way to make contact with someone is to ask them if you can sit in the seat near them. This is especially effective if you are alone or they are alone.
- Try to be especially friendly with people in your classes, because these are the people you will be around most. If you’ve got a spare pencil and someone needs one, lend it to them. Ask them questions: “How was your weekend?”, “What class have you got next?” and so on, are standard questions that will create at least a small conversation.
- If someone is giving off friendly vibes, compliment their look, clothes or bag.
- Extra curricular activities are a great way to bond with others and make new friends, while playing a sport or developing a skill.
- Be yourself- don’t do anything that you don’t feel comfortable with, especially dumb stuff including smoking, drugs or sinful things. That’s not only will not make you good friends, it is also wrong.
- Be yourself. Don’t be afraid to seem different and unique but don’t deliberately try to stand out from everyone else so much that everyone can see you’re trying too hard. Go ahead and wear different clothes or do different sports or have an unusual hobby, but don’t rub it in everyone’s face or they’ll just think you’re showing off.
Tips
- Always be nice. Especially to people who don’t seem to be making many friends.
- Notice little details about people and create conversations from it. If someone has a badge with a band on it, comment on them.
- Slip obscure parts of your personality into conversations to find someone who thinks the same way as you. A surprisingly high amount of people like sub-cultures such as video games, books or music. Another way to show people who you really are is to wear badges or patches with references to your hobbies or interests.
- Don’t hide your Christianity. People need to know what you stand for. Most people will respect and like that and for those who don’t, they probably would not end up being your true friend anyway if you are acting like someone you are not.
Warnings
- Don’t talk to anyone who obviously doesn’t want to be bothered. There are lots of people who are looking for friends so don’t worry about a few who think that they are too cool to be your friend.
- On the other hand, some people would love to have you (or anyone) talk to them because they are too shy to start a conversation. Remember, everyone is new and everyone likes to have friends.
- Don’t lie. It’s not a good way to make friends.
- Don’t talk about yourself all the time. Let the other person do some of the talking. That makes them feel good and you too.
The Golden Rule
The real key to making friends is to realize that other kids want to make friends too. Just do for other kids what you would want a new friends to do for you.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Luke 6:31 (NIV)
