How often does your 14-15 year old see friends

[Anonymous]

outside of organized activities? My son is a rising sophomore, and he has a group of friends at school, but only sees kids outside of activities twice a month max. Trying to get a feel for whether this is normal or whether I should be concerned. He does have a true best friend that he sees at school, but his friend has an anxiety disorder and does not like to socialize that much.

[Anonymous]

I have one son who is a rising sophomore who is an introvert and only does things with friends 2-4 times a month. I have a rising junior who is a social butterfly and sees friends outside of activities every single day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one son who is a rising sophomore who is an introvert and only does things with friends 2-4 times a month. I have a rising junior who is a social butterfly and sees friends outside of activities every single day.

DP. Both of these kids beat both of mine. Age 19 and 16 - ZERO for the 19 y/o; once or twice a YEAR for the 16 y/o.

[Anonymous]

My introvert sees friends once a week.

My extrovert sees friends about 2-3x a week but he is an extreme extrovert.

I think freshman year is hard. I find it is easier by junior year and driving is a game changer.

[Anonymous]

Not often-especially in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Not often but wishes he could do more with friends. I have a rising Sophomore.

[Anonymous]

I think freshman year is hard. I find it is easier by junior year and driving is a game changer.

I am not sure it will be for us as he can very easily get to school friends' places by walking or public transit - but I hope it will be a positive change when they can drive.

[Anonymous]

Not very often...until recently when they started driving. Now they're never home, it seems!

[Anonymous]

DS 15; during school year, maybe 2 times a week last year during 9th. There seemed to be kids coming and going on weekends or after sports and they went to a lot of HS sports to spectate. During summer it seems more sporadic. They hang at the pool or at someone’s house. But kids are in and out on vacation and stuff plus work and some summer sports. He’s very much an extrovert so def seeks out friends to hang with when he’s free. But everyone’s local so they just bike around or meet at pool so I rarely have to drive him to meet up with friends. Also gets a lot of social time playing summer ball and swimming.

[Anonymous]

DD may see her friends once or twice a month.

It’s because most of her friend group is Indian and in these families moms control social schedule and everything needs to be arranged through moms in advance. They are very selective what friends are allowed to be seen and mostly see other Indians. They never just hang out at someone’s house after school.

The non Indian friends are tiger parented. They have music practice, tutoring, enrichment activities, etc.They don’t have time to hang out and their parents are also in charge of their free time.

I’m sick of our private school environment.

[Anonymous]

I feel so terrible sad for this generation of kids.

I’m an immigrant. When I was a teenager we lived in an 8 million city. Me and all the other teenagers roamed the city going to cafes, bars, restaurants, clubs, people’s parties in apartments, country clubs.

We didn’t have much money, but taxis were cheap and friends had cars. I felt safe walking around alone at night.

I was a shy introvert , but I saw my friends practically every day. We had a blast.

When I came to America years ago and to this day I think it’s an incredibly lonely society with everyone tucked away in their suburban homes. Kids are lonely too. My child sees friends once a month and they can’t just pick up and go, I have to drive them.

Elderly are lonely. So many people on anxiety meds and antidepressants. It’s just the way we live here is off.

If you go to France you will see streets full of people socialising over dinners and in parks. American streets are so empty.

[Anonymous]

Rising freshman and junior.

Freshman -2-4x a week. During the school year last year it was usually once during the weekday and once during the weekend at minimum but usually at least one other time.

Junior - every day unless a scheduled activity takes up a whole day or afternoon. It’s frankly excessive but she also drives. Last year it was more like 4x a week.

Keep in mind some of these get togethers are just a 2 hour hang out or Starbucks run and park hang out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel so terrible sad for this generation of kids.

I’m an immigrant. When I was a teenager we lived in an 8 million city. Me and all the other teenagers roamed the city going to cafes, bars, restaurants, clubs, people’s parties in apartments, country clubs.

We didn’t have much money, but taxis were cheap and friends had cars. I felt safe walking around alone at night.

I was a shy introvert , but I saw my friends practically every day. We had a blast.

When I came to America years ago and to this day I think it’s an incredibly lonely society with everyone tucked away in their suburban homes. Kids are lonely too. My child sees friends once a month and they can’t just pick up and go, I have to drive them.

Elderly are lonely. So many people on anxiety meds and antidepressants. It’s just the way we live here is off.

If you go to France you will see streets full of people socialising over dinners and in parks. American streets are so empty.

American born and raised. I agree 100%. I feel such a loss for my kids, though they don't seem to know the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not often-especially in the summer.

Same.

[Anonymous]

I have a 14 yo rising sophomore. During the school year, he rarely gets together with friends outside of sports/activities/school. This is largely because he chooses to do a year-round sport. I do think sports and activities like marching band “count” as socialization, though.

In the summer, he sees friends several times a week at the pool (they plan when to meet up) and for other get-togethers, but it is mostly different friends than during the school year (summer swim friends). His school friends travel, etc. and aren’t around much in the summer.