Supporting Teens in Setting Boundaries with Friends

If your teen is having lots of screen time with friends, some of these things may happen with a friend:

• their friend needs a lot of support during this pandemic and your teen is feeling emotionally drained.
• their friend is great to hang out with but is sometimes thoughtless and your teen's feelings are often hurt.
• their friend does all the talking and your teen rarely has a chance to talk.

In "5 Ways to Help Teens Set Boundaries with Friends," Barbara Greenberg makes these suggestions:

1. Teach your teens to label their feelings.

2. Encourage teens to heed their feelings and intuition.

3. Explain to your teens that they can't be all things to all friends.

4. Discuss different ways to set boundaries.

5. Look at your behavior in relationships.