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Why Friendships Are Important?
All our lives, we make friends, befriend neighbors and connect with coworkers only to lose touch with them because of relocation, illness, conflicts or other reasons. But, why are we addicted to social ties? The reason seems to be anthropological. Humans thrive in the context of social ties. We form our self-identity in relation to how others around us are doing.
A 2010 meta-analysis of 148 mortality studies published in PLoS Medicine journal found that the mortality risk associated with a lack of a strong social network was comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes every day, or more than 6 alcoholic drinks a day.
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How Many Friends Do We Have?
A Gallup poll from 2013 finds that, on average, Americans have nine “close friends” (a mean of 8.6), not including their relatives. This includes 45% of Americans who say they have six or more close friends, 39% who have between three and five close friends, and 14% who have one or two close friends.
Only 2% of Americans say they have no close friends. The current average represents a slightly lower number of close friends than reported in 1990 and 2001, when Americans said they had an average of 10 friends (means of 9.9 and 9.5, respectively).
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Life goes on. Hopes rise and dreams flicker and die. Love plans for tomorrow and loneliness thinks of yesterday. Life is beautiful and living is pain. ~ Hunter S. Thompson
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Our Social Media Savvy Teens Are More Lonelier Than Ever:
These days, kids take a break from video games to dabble, once in a while, in real life. If something is not required to be done, they would rather not do it at all. That is the state of affairs. Children are turning to video games as an escape to the boredom of real life. They’re using their need to interact and talk to others by chatting with strangers and virtual friends.
They are so wired for instant connected that they don’t pause long enough to realize that these superficial online connections will not necessarily lead to deep meaningful long lasting relationships in their lives.
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Decline In Friendship Trend
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Our Lonely Teenage Girls:
Our teen girls are spending less time shopping, meeting friends and going out for movies than any other generation that has passed. They’re spending Saturday nights alone surfing social media.
A 2019 Pew Research center survey found that 36% of girls report being extremely anxious every day. They’re anxious about school shootings, global warming, and their ability to afford college.
Teen girls are becoming increasingly risk averse and report that their mothers are their best friends. They are likely to become less self-sufficient.
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Today, an estimated 28% of all American homes are single-person households, according to a 2018 report from the US Census Bureau. Nearly 5% of the US population lives in retirement homes. More than 2 million Americans are incarcerated, according to a 2018 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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About The Article Author:
Our mission with FutureSTRONG Academy – to grow children who respect themselves, their time and their capabilities in a world where distractions are just a click or a swipe away.
I see myself as an advocate for bringing social, emotional and character development to families, schools and communities. I never want to let this idea out of my sight – Our children are not just GPAs. I’m a Writer and a Certified Master Coach in NLP and CBT. Until 2017, I was also a Big Data Scientist. In December of 2044, I hope to win the Nobel. Namasté.
Write to me or call me. Tell me what support from me looks like.
Rachana Nadella-Somayajula,
Program Director & Essential Life Skills Coach for Kids and Busy Parents
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