Learn how to make friends in high school with these fun and friendly tips

Going to high school can seem a little bit like you have stepped directly into a Willam Golding novel. Teens are some of the most unpredictable people on the planet. They are seeing their hormones ebb and flow at an alarming rate. 

At the same time, kids are spending their high school years turning into the adults they are going to be for the rest of their lives. That burgeoning maturity is doing battle with the kid who is still fighting to gain control over the body. Because of this, teenagers can be a hard group of people to figure out. Making friends with them can be a bit of a trick proposition. On the other hand, friendship and community can be as important to teens as to any other age group.

These kids want to know that they have something in common with others … and that is the key in how to make buddies in high school.

The key to making friends that will actually endure beyond high school is to figure out what kind of activities you truly enjoy. If you are someone who likes playing sports, you need to make sure that you make an attempt to play sports in high school. If you are more of a kind of person who enjoys theatrical pursuits, then drama club is where you should ply your interests. 

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The best part about these years is that there are always going to be people who share common interests. For the most part, high school administrators understand the value in making sure that there are clubs for any interest. Most schools will allow you to quickly and easily set up a club if it does not currently exist.

The key to making friends is to make sure that the areas you become involved in are truly your passion. The people who you spend this kind of time with will also become the ones you eventually befriend. Just because you spend time with someone does not mean you will automatically become their “besties” but it is the right foundation. There is a certain camaraderie that will sprout if you spend an hour or two every day before or after school with the same group of kids.

You don’t have to join an extra curricular activity in order to forge friendships. What you must do is make yourself emotionally available to others. Most kids are looking for people they can connect with at this age. 

If you show a real interest in what people are doing, while being careful not to be nosy or intrusive, people will respond positively. Strike up conversations (when conversations are encouraged) about what you did over the weekend and ask others what they did. Figure out what other people’s interests are and then share your own tastes and interests with them, if they seem amenable.

Because there can be a bit of a Lord of the Flies feeling to school, the pull to keep your head down and go unnoticed can be attractive. Staying silent and trying to stay out of everyone’s way might seem like the way to go, but it certainly won’t help you forge relationships.

Sometimes you may need to make a real effort to be outgoing and friendly and you may not feel as if you have the energy to engage, but a consistent effort will only help when showing other people what you have to offer.

The most important piece of advice is also the most trite: When you are looking for people who might become your friends, make sure you stay true to yourself. If you pretend to be something you aren’t, then it’s going to be incredibly hard to forge real friendships.