By Margaret Mak
Not all groups of friends are cliques, but cliques are those groups who purposely leave others out. This can be especially hurtful to school-age kids who are outside of the clique. To help these children deal with being on the fringe:
- Remind them to stay open to friendships outside of the clique.
- If they really want to be friends with someone in the clique, invite just that person over to hang out.
- Most importantly, reassure them not to take it out on themselves. Encourage them to be confident, true to themselves AND be kind to everyone, not just a select few.
Margaret Mak is the Director of Eye Level Learning Center of Pleasantville, located at 71 Wheeler Avenue. Eye Level (formerly E.nopi) is a 30-year-old supplemental education program with a philosophy that every child has the potential to learn and master math, reading and writing. “We enable students to realize this potential by bringing the instructional materials to the eye-level of your child,” states Mak. For more information, please contact her at 914-741-0407 or email eyelevelpleasantville@gmail.com.
