The Friendship Factor: Helping Our Children Navigate Their Social World And Why It Matters for Their Success

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Today's parents seem more concerned than ever about their children's well-being. If they are shy or withdrawn, are they suffering from social phobia? If they are desperate to be connected to the "in" crowd, are they failing to develop their own identities? We often miss the more subtle but tell-tale indications of real distress-a child's feeling that he doesn't belong. In The Friendship Factor, Dr. Kenneth Rubin provides a missing piece to what really matters for a child's healthy emotional development-"the friendship factor."

In his more than twenty-five years of longitudinal research in the field of friendship and peer influence, Dr. Kenneth Rubin has discovered that our children's ability to navigate their social world shapes all aspects of their emotional and intellectual growth and is crucial to their future happiness and success. While reassuring readers that most worries are based on normal developmental phases, Dr. Rubin shows that the ability to connect socially is something children learn and can develop over time. The Friendship Factor deals with:

* the difference between popularity and friendship
* accepting your child's social style and temperment
* the unwritten rule of playground politics
* helping both withdrawn and aggressive children
* the dynamics of bullying and how to stop it

Readers will recognize their child and themselves in The Friendship Factor as it takes its place beside classics like Reviving Ophelia and Emotional Intelligence. With its tools and strategies, it can help children become their best social selves-now and for a lifetime.