How to Make Friends for Teens

Make new friends as a teenager.

Whether you've just moved to a new town or simply don't have as many friends as you'd like, making friends can be a challenge for teenagers. High school students tend to form cliques, which can be hard to break into. When looking for new friends, it's important to be yourself--if you have to change the person that you are in order to be friends with someone, they probably won't make a very good friend.

Instructions

1. Identify a few people that you want to be friends with. Scope out the halls to find people that you like. These people should share some of your interests and seem friendly.

2. Join a club or group to connect with these people. These days, a formal introduction often seems awkward. It's better to become a part of a smaller group so that you can interact on a more personal level. If the person you want to become friends with belongs to a particular after-school club, join that club. If not, look for clubs and activities that match your interests.

3. Smile at people. When you smile, you seem happy, friendly and open. It's important to catch someone's eye and smile rather than sheepishly look away. This may be hard at first, but with some practice, you'll get better at it.

4. Strike up a conversation with people. When you're in line buying your lunch, getting books out of your locker or waiting for the teacher to start class, make an effort to start a conversation. You can ask the person a question or give them a compliment. If you have a hard time speaking to people because you're shy, try keeping the conversation focused on the other person--people love to talk about themselves. By asking pointed questions, you can keep the conversation going.

5. Accept invitations to do activities. Do this even if you don't think that you'll really like the activity. For example, if someone asks you to attend the Friday night football game, you should go even if you don't like football. This allows you to interact with people on a more social level.

6. Steal friends from your new friends. When you have one or two people that you can call a friend, you can start to get to know their friends. This allows you to become part of a bigger social group and have more friends.

References

• Beliefnet: 13 Ways to Make Friends
• Succeed Socially: How to Make Friends