American Karate Institute
Martial Arts & Making Friends

Making friends is an important part of childhood. It seems like some kids have more friends that they can keep track of, some have a few-but lifelong-friends, whereas some children struggle to make meaningful connections with their peers.
In today’s tech heavy world, making those meaningful connections and relationships is harder than ever. We, including us and our kids, are more technically connected than ever. We can communicate with anyone around the world at an instant. This is a good thing.
However, technological connection can preclude real human connection. A child’s ability to make friends now, will also impact their ability to relate to the world in the future.
In my view, we all have three kinds of relationships, all of which can be both positive and negative. We have peer to peer relationships, near-peer relationships and what I call plus-minus relationships.