With Friendships, Middle Schoolers Don't Always "Work It Out on Their Own" (and that's not a failing)

We tell middle schoolers to “work it out on their own” all the time. But what if that advice is leaving kids alone with relationship skills they haven’t actually learned yet? In this episode, I’m sharing a piece of my recent Social Lives of Middle Schoolers workshop and challenging one of the most common rules parents hear about friendship struggles. Because stepping in does not have to mean taking over. We talk about: why “let them figure it out” can quietly protect the child causing harmthe...