This assignment is for Human Growth and Development Class!
Reflecting on Middle Childhood Friendships
In Chapter 7, we explore how children’s friendships evolve as they grow. For children ages 8 to 11, trust, assistance, mutual liking, and shared activities are key aspects of their relationships. In adolescence, friendships deepen with the addition of intimacy, as friends confide in each other, sharing personal thoughts and feelings. Selman’s Stages of Perspective Taking explains how children’s ability to see situations from others’ viewpoints develops in stages. As this skill grows, children become better at understanding their friends’ thoughts, feelings, and motivations. This helps them navigate social interactions, resolve conflicts, and build stronger friendships.
Use the following questions to reflect on your own experiences with friendship during middle childhood:
- Thinking about Selman’s stages of perspective-taking, how do you think your ability to see things from your friends’ points of view influenced your friendships during middle childhood?
- Why do you think it’s important to understand how friendships develop in childhood? How might this knowledge help in forming and maintaining relationships throughout life?