Friends: online & offline
Is friendship a choice?
Yes!
Being friends with someone is always a choice.
What is a conversation hog?
A conversation hog is someone who must be the centre of attention in all conversations and will not let someone get a word in edgewise.
What's your next step when your friend/date has accepted an invitation for a get together?
You can exchange contact information, phone number or social media accounts to confirm the get together and plan out any logistics.
What's an example of a short comeback you can say when you're being verbally bullied?
- Whatever.
- Who cares?
- Is that supposed to be funny?
- Anyway...and slowly walk away.
Is it a good idea to start a friendship online?
Why or Why not?
Generally no, since you don't know if the person is being truthful about who they are or not.
However, it's okay if there is a mutual friend, or it's part of a community group like your school.
Give an example of an open-ended question you can ask someone you just met to learn new information about them.
- How do you usually like to spend your free time?
- What would your perfect vacation be like?
- Why do you like the bands/performers that you like?
Why should you do a follow-up call/text for your get together?
- Usually happens a day or two before to make sure plans are still happening
- Resolves possible miscommunication
- Gives opportunity to raise issues/concerns (e.g. the weather changes and we can’t do what we planned anymore, something came up)
How can gossip be positive?
- Your classmate got a really good mark on a test.
"Wow, they must have studied all week!"
- Your coworker got a promotion.
"They worked really hard and deserve that promotion."
- Your friend has been down due to a family issue.
"Hey let's all get together and take Tom out for lunch to cheer him up!".
What's your definition of a toxic friend?
- They only demand things from you and rarely give back.
- They won't acknowledge your achievement and make it about themselves.
- They make false promises and don't apologize for real.
- They talk about you negatively behind your back.
How can we tell if the person we're talking to is not interested in a conversation?
- They're not making eye contact.
- They're doing something else, like using their phone.
- They're giving you only yes/no responses.
When you're on a date, is it too personal to ask about your date's family (parents, siblings, pets)?
Asking general questions about your date's family is okay, it's an opportunity to learn about them and opportunities to create conversation (growing up with sibling vs only child).
These questions are okay:
"What was it like growing up with old siblings? I was only an only child"
"What kind of pet would you like to have?"
These questions are not appropriate:
"Is your sister single?"
"How much does your dad make?"
Do you have to end a friendship due to a disagreement?
Not necessarily!
As long as you and your friend can solve the disagreement and move on, then it's probably not necessary to end the friendship.
However, if you're consistently arguing, it may be a good choice to talk to your friend about it.
What kind of personal information should you not share online?
- Home address
- Family members
- Medical information
- Financial information (salary, credit card, etc)
Why is it important to give a cover story before leaving a conversation?
If you leave an ongoing conversation without saying anything, it might give people a false impression of you.
A cover story can be as simple as "I need to go somewhere now" or "I need to go do something".
Regardless of what your cover story is, make sure to say positive comments like "I'll talk to you later" to show that you enjoyed talking to the person.
- Don't invite other people into your get-together unexpectedly.
- Don't ignore your friends.
- Don't tease your friends.
- Don't argue with your friends.
- Don't police your friends
Take screenshots of all the negative comments/messages as evidence and take them to your local authorities.
When you communicate through messages (text or email), how can you show your tone?
- punctuation marks!
- emojis 😁😣😥😒
Why might people down you down from joining a conversation?
- They want to talk privately.
- They are talking at a different level.
- They do not want to make new friends
- It may be their personality (not wanting to include others).
- They did not understand that you were trying to join in (talking off topic).
- You got too personal.
What kind of compliments is appropriate to give to your date?
"You look awesome"
"It's so cool how we both like the same musician"
"You're so thoughtful"
Avoid complimenting their physique.
Why do people become bully?
- They want to dominate others and improve their social status.
- They have low self-esteem.
- They have a lack of remorse or fail to recognize their behaviour as a problem.
- They feel angry or frustrated.
- They were a victim of bullying themselves.