Note to Readers: Girls Friendships cause much stress and anxiety for many tweens and teens. I found the middle school years to be particularly challenging for girls. Emotional bullying is everywhere and the lines of friendship are blurred by an effort to be popular or just plain old accepted! I love these positive statement put forth by Blair! Print this out and leave it on your daughters pillow… I know I am.
By Blair Wagner, CPCC, ACC
Resolution #1: I resolve to stand up for myself.
Resolution #2: I resolve to pay attention to which friends feel good to be around and which friends don’t.
Resolution #3: I resolve to walk away from situations I don’t want to be part of.
Resolution #4: I resolve to think about what I want in a friend.
Resolution #5: I resolve to smile at girls who don’t have friends.
Resolution #6: I resolve to be a Positive Active Bystander™ when I see bullying.
Resolution #7: I resolve to practice using a strong voice.
Resolution #8: I resolve to ask for friendship help from a trusted adult when I need it.
Resolution #9: I resolve to be honest with my friends.
Resolution #10: I resolve to trust my gut over what anyone else says.
Resolution #11: I resolve to stand tall.
Resolution #12: I resolve to avoid negative text messages.
Resolution #13: I resolve to do what feels right to me.
Resolution #14: I resolve to try out new friends.
Resolution #15: I resolve to say goodbye to friendships that aren’t healthy for me.
Resolution #16: I resolve to ask questions when I realize I’m making assumptions.
Resolution #17: I resolve to let go of sarcasm.
Resolution #18: I resolve to speak up instead of get revenge.
Resolution #19: I resolve to say how I feel.
Resolution #20: I resolve to respect myself as much as I respect my friends.
Resolution #21: I resolve to look for friends who treat others kindly.
Resolution #22: I resolve to ignore negative gestures.
Resolution #23: I resolve to stick with friends I can trust.
Resolution #24: I resolve to be open to making lots of friends.
Resolution #25: I resolve to avoid gossip and rumors.
Resolution #26: I resolve to stay away from friends who manipulate and use relational aggression.
Resolution #27: I resolve to keep others’ secrets private.
Resolution #28: I resolve to talk to girls who are being given the silent treatment.
Resolution #29: I resolve to never say, “Just kidding.”
Resolution #30: I resolve to be myself.
© 2011 A Way Through, LLC
Female friendship experts Jane Balvanz and Blair Wagner publish A Way Through, LLC’s Guiding Girls ezine. If you’re ready to guide girls in grades K – 8 through painful friendships, get your FREE mini audio workshop and ongoing tips now at www.AWayThrough.com
Indigo Teen Dreams helps girls to believe in themselves by using positive statements. 3 additional tracks introduce stress management techniques. Empower your daughter.
Excellent article and excellent tips, definately something to print out and give to your teens!
Thanks Cindy! I was so fortunate to have this article come across my path in Twitter Land!
We really need to help teens with their friendships and their self-esteem. Girls can be incredibly bitchy and they have to have the tools to deal with it. These are fantastic resolutions which need to be reinforced – perhaps put in a prominent place for them to see daily.
Thanks Naomi…love the idea to place them for daily viewing…I know lots of adults that can benefit from these as well. Thanks for posting!
I enjoyed writing these resolutions and am so glad you find them helpful! Thanks for sharing them with others.
~ Blair Wagner
Blair, These resolutions are fantastic! My readers LOVED them….. please do send me more of your tips.
I’m going to share with my niece. These are great!
Thank you for sharing. It’s all about sharing and supporting each other as we raise our children…too tough to go it alone.
I love these tips for girls. I’m going to print them out and put them on our magnet board for my daughters (esp. my teen girl). Thanks!
Thank you for this resolutions for our young girls, they are wonderful and so needed.
Yes, I feel in love with this post from Jane Balvanz and Blair Wagner. You can also find them on twitter @AWayThrough.
Great article and fabulous timing. I think summertime is a really good time to work on some of these resolutions. It gives a little distance to what’s happening at school and although what happens at school can spill over to summer (see today’s post: http://tangledball.blogspot.com) it’s a time when we can re-focus, get to know other people and learn to appreciate your interests and talents. I’m going to share this post with others. Thanks!
Thanks Susan! I just visited your blog…love your article on bullying…sometimes it does take a parent with a backbone…
What a fantastic set of resolutions! They are pointed and force girls to confront the issues that may be causing them stress but that they may not even have acknowledged let alone tried to find a way to deal with. A lot of these apply to boys and to full grown adults too! Thanks very much for creating them.
Yes Bruce! I so agree that these positive friendship statements apply to boys and adults. Good point.
I’m working with 7th grade girl scouts & I’m going to share these resolutions with them. This is so timely for us.
This is fantastic! I plan to print this out and share this with the teen girls I work with in therapy. Thank you!
And FYI – I would benefit from these resolutions!
Wonderful! Yes LOL… I agree…we can all benefit from these.
Have you thought about making a printable version of this? I think it would be tremendously helpful!
Thank you for this resource! It will definitely help with back to school for my 5th grader.
great advice … nothing there that isn’t perfect for boys too! xt