Asst. Prof. Pınar Demir Asma, Deputy Head of Child Development Department, stating that friendship relations established in childhood play a critical role in an individual's social, emotional, and cognitive development, emphasized that these relationships are not only an area for play and spending time, but also form the foundation of adult relationships.
Asst. Prof. Asma, stating that attention should be paid to certain symptoms in children who have difficulty forming friendships, said, “If symptoms such as weak communication skills for their age, difficulty initiating and sustaining social interaction, reluctance to go to school, introversion, negative mood, or play skills not progressing appropriately for their age are observed, the child should be monitored for a period and, if deemed necessary, referred to appropriate support services.”
Asst. Prof. Pınar Demir Asma, Deputy Head of Child Development Department at Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences, evaluated friendship relations established during childhood.
Through Friendship Relations, Children Rehearse Adult Life
Asst. Prof. Pınar Demir Asma noted that the child's social environment and friendship relations play an important role in their development process, stating, “Friendship is a special type of relationship where both parties know each other and are willing to maintain it. Friendship relations support a child's development in many ways. Through friendship relations, children; get the chance to rehearse adult life, gain the opportunity to learn social rules in society, their language development is supported, their skills to express themselves and regulate their emotions are strengthened, school adaptation processes become easier, they can gain the ability to learn through friends, and can acquire skills to cope with negative situations.”
The Importance of Playing and Spending Time with Friends
Asst. Prof. Pınar Demir Asma stated that playing and spending time with friends, in particular, develop positive interpersonal communication skills such as helping, empathy, altruism, and kindness, which are called prosocial skills, adding, “Along with making friends, positive social behaviors such as listening to, understanding, and synchronizing with the other person are also supported. Acquiring these skills at an early age helps children develop satisfying social relationships in later stages of their lives.”
Signals to Pay Attention To
Asst. Prof. Pınar Demir Asma stated that attention should be paid to certain symptoms in children who have difficulty forming friendships, saying, “If symptoms such as weak communication skills for their age, difficulty initiating and sustaining social interaction, reluctance to go to school, introversion, negative mood, or play skills not progressing appropriately for their age are observed, the child should be monitored for a period; considering the duration of the symptoms and their negative effects on the child's daily life functionality, they should be referred to appropriate support services if deemed necessary.”
Digital Friendships and the Parental Role
Asst. Prof. Pınar Demir Asma noted that a significant part of friendship relations today occur in online environments, stating that rules of etiquette are violated more often on online platforms compared to face-to-face interaction.
Asst. Prof. Pınar Demir Asma stated that friendships established in a digital context can contribute to children's development when supported by a proper monitoring mechanism, saying, “The ability to transcend physical boundaries in terms of time and space contributes to children's friendship relations being healthier and more diverse. To ensure online friendship processes are conducted more effectively, several suggestions can be offered for families to transition from a prohibitive role to a guiding one. These are; acquire digital literacy skills and support your child in gaining these skills, listen without judgment and because you are genuinely curious about your child, ask questions about their friends, utilize filtering techniques offered by internet providers, remind them not to video or voice chat with strangers, ensure they use online platforms in common areas at home, emphasize the importance of maintaining a balance between face-to-face and online friendships, and most importantly, be a positive role model yourselves in online processes.”
Children's Early Friendships Are Not Just About Spending Time
Asst. Prof. Pınar Demir Asma noted that children's early friendships should not be seen merely as a way to pass time, but rather as a prototype of adult relationships and an important area to support their development, concluding her words by saying, “Furthermore, in the world today's children are born into, technology is an inescapable reality. At this point, what is decisive is for parents to provide correct and conscious guidance in online friendship processes.”
