How to Deal With a Mean Friend

You don't have to put up with people being mean to you or bullying you in any way. You need to take back your power and make sure you are treated right. Follow these tips to deal with mean friends without becoming a bully yourself.

Instructions

1. Be confident in yourself. A mean friend can make you feel small, unimportant or stupid. Don't let someone change how you feel about yourself. You don't deserve to feel that way.

2. Turn to your other friends when you need help or advice on how to deal. You don't want to gossip about the person but you do want your other friends to know that you aren't being treated fairly.

3. Tell a grown up if the situation becomes frightening or uncomfortable. No one has the right to treat you badly so you need to get help before you get hurt.

4. Confront the mean friend as long as you are not in danger. Let the person know how you feel about what has been done. Tell your friend that you want it to stop. Inform your friend that you cannot be friends anymore if the behavior doesn't stop.

5. Understand what a good friend is and stick to your idea of what friendship means to you. Friends aren't kind one day and mean the next. Friends make you feel better, not worse.

6. Decide if the mean friend is worth the effort. Make a list of the things you like about the person and the things you dislike. If you feel the bad outranks the good, end the friendship.

7. Find out if your friend needs help. Sometimes a mean person is being bullied by someone else. Get your friend help if it is needed.