There are times when people like to be alone and that’s not bad at all, quite the opposite. But human beings are social beings and to be well we must feel that we belong to a group and that we have friends. In order to create good friendships, you must have adequate social skills, only in this way can you achieve healthy friendships.

The same goes for children, for them to be able to form positive relationships -in all facets of life- it is essential that they learn social skills, and the best way to learn it is for parents to be the best guides and role models for them to model behaviors.

How to help children build better relationships with others

A recent study found that Children who have a secure bond with their parents are more likely to develop healthy friendships and adjust to others with their own needs in mind. In order for children to feel safe and to be able to establish healthy relationships with others, some things must be taken into account in everyday family life:

• Children see their father, mother or caregiver calm in an unknown situation.
• They feel better when they talk about conflicts that may have existed in the family.
• Children use their parents as a base to explore their environment to feel trust.

The research found that children who had a secure bond with their parents were more sensitive to playmates on first contact, but knew how to channel their emotions better, even if that new partner was prone to anger. Securely attached children continued to respond positively to social situations.

Children who have a secure attachment to their parents are more sensitive to suggestions or requests made by their peers, have greater empathy and assertiveness in relationships. A child who has good social skills:

• Has positive expectations regarding relationships with others.
• Will adjust quickly to responses from peers.
• He is likely to use suggestions and requests instead of demands and intrusive behaviors.

Secure relationships between parents and their children will positively affect the children and also increase the feeling security, self-esteem, self-control… and also, the ability to learn and remember knowledge.

Start building healthy relationships… from birth

Healthy relationships begin to form since children arrive in this world and contact with their parents/caregivers is essential for the creation of stable and emotionally intelligent people. But secure attachment is not about parents forgetting their own needs in favor of their baby’s… It means being attuned to their children’s needs without forgetting their own.

In order to establish good relationships in the future with others, babies will need to establish a positive relationship with their caregivers because this will directly influence the development and growth of the brain. Through a positive relationship, the neural connections in the baby’s brain will be made secure.Children with parents who work well attached will play more with their children and be more sensitive to their needs children, so children will learn and model this behavior towards themselves and towards others.

As you can see, it is very important to have healthy relationships in people’s lives, but this starts from the birth of children, working a positive and secure relationship with parents. If your child grows up having a healthy relationship with you, then he will be able to have a healthy relationship with other people as he gets older.