Dear Suzie, i moved up to high school at the end of the summer holidays and i have made new friends. I now hang about with them and we are all best friends. Its just my old friend is getting jealous and she goes and moans to my other old friends. What should i do??
I get a lot of letters from people who find their friendships change when they move around. So let’s turn this round. Your old friend might write to me and say “I moved up to high school at the end of the summer holidays and my best friend has turned her back on me. She’s made a load of new friends and ignores me. What should I do??” What would you say to that?
In fact, I’d say the same to both of you. You need to accept and understand that people do change – that the person who was your best friend in primary school may no longer be the person who shares your interest and tastes as you get older. Things do move on and you shouldn’t take it personally. But I’ll add something special for you – that this is no reason to be mean. If you get a reputation as someone who sticks by friends and is loyal and kind, it will stand you in good stead. If you’re known as someone who betrays and abandons people, it may happen to you.