My son is 11 yrs old and has barely any friends his own age. Hes not a bully, or really not to shy. He just has no friends. How do I help him, other than sports and camps.
2007-07-02 05:15:04 · 7 answers · asked by renea m 2 in Family & Relationships ➔ Family
I raised (as a Long Term Single Parent) both a son and daughter with Disabilities (and one child has high functioning autism -- Asperger's Syndrome).
For helping socialize BOTH children -- I involved them in Scouting .. and .. since there are plenty of troops out there with leader/parents who do NOT Want disabled children in the troop -- I OFFERED and DID (again ... as a SINGLE Parent) ... to lead the troops, and specifically for children with disabilities who were not accepted by the OTHER troops for sure.
This way .. it was a band of parents like myself -- our children did have a variety of disabilities, and we were able to let our children socialize and learn how to play together, how to gain life skills (and for the children in our troops -- the cooking, survival skills, and other things were very important to learn!), but we also took them Horseback Riding/Lessons, High Adventure Camping, Geo-Caching, Hiking, Bicycle Riding, Rifle Shooting/Archery, Swimming and Boating, and many other usual scouting activities. They definitely paid attention to the "BUDDY RULE" (always go by 2s) and they were ALWAYS Safe ... more so than those in troops that had NO disabled children in them!
So try scouting -- and if you need to -- volunteer as well. I am sure that when you spend the time to work with the other parents, share a skill (or two) with the children, and he watches you talk to other adults and how you help other children too .. he WILL learn (gently) how to socialize and be more friendly with kids his own age!
2007-07-02 05:42:23 · answer #1 · answered by sglmom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you ever spoken to him about having friends his own age? It could be that he is a loner by choice, or he hasn't found too many young people his age that have the same interest as he does.Does he seem to be happy? Does he complain that he doesn't have friends, and would like to know why. He is a young guy that is between a rock, and a hard place. Not quite a teenager, and still an adolescent. If he has friends at school some of those should have lapped over through summer. Ask him why he doesn't have some of his friends over, say for a cookout or play pass with the football. This is tough to say much more, because he hasn't provided you with any input. Sorry couldn't help more.
2007-07-02 16:35:27 · answer #2 · answered by Butch. 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when i was younger, i rarely played with other kids my age. for some reason our society seems to view this as strange.
i can remember being little and my parents forcing me to mix, when in reality i was fine being alone, more comfortable that way.
there's nothing wrong with solitude. let your son be, that's the best thing you can do for him.
on the other hand, if he doesn't have any friends and is lonely- then maybe he's just shy- and then perhaps you should look into stuff like a fun casual acting class which can boost his confidence, or some other activity.
2007-07-02 12:26:19 · answer #3 · answered by XelchC 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
different people have different needs for socialization.
Does your son want more friends or is he happy with having a few friends?
If he is happy don't try to push the friends thing - support him developing his interests and talents, and the friendships will grow out of people he meets with a common interest.
2007-07-02 12:57:52 · answer #4 · answered by keezy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wel find out his interests and support him in all those and help him to seek friends in those areas.
2007-07-02 12:32:25 · answer #5 · answered by Humble Servant 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lock him out during the day. If he can't get back in, he will be forced to find someone to play with.
2007-07-02 12:19:21 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can he invite his peers home, try that approach.
2007-07-02 12:23:25 · answer #7 · answered by fran j 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋