ZEYNEP OKUR GUNER, PhD

In my previous newsletter, I explored the ups and downs of tween friendships, why friendship drama is so common during middle school, and how we can support our children through it. This time, I want to zoom in on one particularly painful experience: when our daughter is dropped by their friendship group. What can we do when our daughter comes home upset as she feels she is gradually losing her place in her friendship group? When your daughter feels left out Our daughter has

In middle school, tweens start to have more freedom and less adult supervision, which gives them a much larger pool of potential friends. Until now, their friendships were mostly based on proximity (kids who live in the same neighbourhood tend to become friends) or on their parents' preferences for other parents in their class. With the start of middle school, tweens begin choosing their own friends, and frankly, we don't have much say in it. Around this time, we also see an

Have you realised that the sports activities we did during our school years had a different taste than today’s children’s activities? I remember, being relaxed and having fun whilst I was playing table tennis (even though I was a school team member attending tournaments regularly). In addition to my table tennis practices, I remember playing and enjoying lots of other sports each year. Today’s children’s experience looks and feels far from that of mine and possibly yours. “Yo