If you have a child in middle school, you may have noticed that “drama” has taken up residence in their social world. Shifting alliances, hurt feelings, and occasional betrayals often become routine, and it’s normal for adults to feel concerned when the young person they love gets caught up in the social turmoil. But it helps to remember that as messy as these years can be, they’re also an important time for tweens to learn how to form, maintain, and sometimes end friendships. Social turbulence is not a sign that something has gone terribly wrong—it’s part of the developmental work of becoming a teenager.
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