Everybody needs friends. But being a good friend can sometimes be hard work. Learning how to solve problems in a friendship can make you a better friend and a happier person. A common problem between friends is that they don’t know how to talk to each other about difficult things. When they do talk, they often get mad with each other. What can they do? Well, it takes time to learn how to communicate well, and it is important to understand why a friend gets angry with you when you say something. If you know what it is that makes your friend angry, then you can try to talk about the problem in a different way.
Another problem that many friends have to deal with is what to do after one of them gets angry or upset. If friends get angry with each other and say something bad because they are angry, they often find it difficult to apologize after the quarrel. The best way to apologize after a quarrel is simply to start by telling each other that you are sorry and then go from there. A simple apology is often enough and is a good starting point. What about friends who can’t keep a secret? Sometimes it seems impossible to keep a secret from becoming a rumour that everyone knows. Shouldn’t a good friend be able to keep a secret? Perhaps, but it is not always that easy to keep a secret, and telling a secret to someone will often put them in a difficult situation — they may have to lie to other friends to keep the secret. The best way to make sure that a secret doesn’t become a rumor is simply to keep it to yourself — don’t tell anyone.