ZEYNEP OKUR GUNER, PhD

The teenage years have a seriously bad reputation, and most of that reputation comes (understandably) from moodiness. No parent finds it easy to go from the fairly stable latency period of middle childhood (roughly 6–12 years of age) to dealing with a teen or tween who has several mood swings a day. Even parents who are child psychologists, and who literally know what is coming their way, find it difficult to manage when it happens — myself included. However, there are a few

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