What makes a good friend?  Are you a bad friend?  What do you do if you fall out with a friend?  Find out more here!

Good Friends...

• Show an interest in what you doing
• Are willing to listen when you have a problem
• Offer encouragement
• Give compliments now and again
• Are kind and respectful of other people
• Are willing to share things with their friends
• They don’t judge their friends
• They say if they disagree
• They can keep a secret
• They respect your views and opinions

Bad Friends...

• Are mean
• Are bossy
• Generally make their friends bad about themselves
• Are sarcastic and cruel
• Speak to others behind their friend’s back
• Make fun out of you to feel big in front of others
• Bully people
• Put pressure on you to do things you don't like or want to do

Falling Out With Friends

In real life, no friendship is perfect. Sometimes even the closest of friends fall out. But here’s how you can patch it up.

• Make the first move, being first to start talking doesn’t mean you’ve lost and they’ve won. It just means that you care enough about your friend to want to fix things.
• Learn to let it go, it's happened but it's in the past now.
• Was there anything funny about the disagreement? Laughing together ­but not at each other­ can help.
• Maybe you can call a truce ­— maybe you were both right! You can still be friends.
• Don’t jump and take sides when two of your friends fall out, let both know that you understand their point of view but remain friends with the two of them. And remember, don’t ask people to take sides in one of your arguments, people don’t like to be forced to chose.

Of course, sometimes friendships just fade naturally. It’s natural to feel sad about growing apart. However, this is just part of life.

Being A Better Friend

Are you worried about how good a friend you are? Have you ever thought about how you can be an even better friend? Well here's some pointers to get you started:

• Be confident enough to be yourself­, there’s no point trying to be someone you're not just to impress someone. A good friend will like you for who you are.
• Listen to what your friend says — everyone likes other people to pay attention to what they say.
• Think about what your friend is interested in talking about.