Recently I took my kids to see the newest version of The Jungle Book. In that classic story it describes the adventures of a boy living amongst the wild with the kind help of variety of species. Quite a parallel to the plight of growing up with all the social pressures that threaten a child’s peaceful existence on a daily basis! Mogley, the lead character, is taught to stay with the pack of wolves that became his surrogate family. They embraced him. But others in the jungle did not accept the “boy cub”. When children and teens are facing the developmental tasks of finding their packs to ensure safety and survival it is often met with missteps and sometimes a trauma of its own.
As a parent and professional that is responsible to help guide children through their social and emotional challenges, there is a critical need to teach them and their personal supports how to identify their appropriate social group. I like to refer this as discovering their tribe. Studies show that children that are able to develop healthy friendships benefit in a variety of ways including creating a buffer. We know that 30 percent of children and teens become victim to two categories of social duress.
They are referred to as the peer rejected and/or the socially neglected. These two categories, when stuck in them, can lead to being targeted for bullying and the internalization of increased depression and anxiety. That’s where the vitality of having a buffer, a tribe, allows the child to be connected with the backup necessary to keep them safe and secure.
By the end of my training in the PEERS® program I knew that this treatment option was something so practical and bonafide that there was this hope for my child and so many others that I have worked with to offer a path to surviving all the “different species they encounter in the jungle”. These social skills groups can be a gateway to their tribe teaching them to run with the pack and knowing how to avoid some of the dangers of putting themselves in often unnecessary socially compromising situations.
At the end of my PEERS® training in Los Angeles earlier this year, the developer and trainer, Elizabeth Laugeson, became very moved as she did her closing. I understood that this emotion was humble in the realization that PEERS® groups have had a profound impact on teens and their families to create hope and strength by knowing how to discover their tribe and consequently rise to their potential!