By Isaac Sheppard Healthy Shark reporters | It doesn’t matter whether you’re quiet or outgoing, it is important to build relationships with other people, according to health experts.
“Being connected to others creates feelings of belonging, loved, and cared for,” says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The health agency says healthy connections help people manage stress, increase physical activity, and improve sleep, the agency writes in “Social Connectedness,” an article on its website.
Having healthy connections can also help you take a break from screen time, help others, and join groups or clubs with people who have similar interests, the article said.
Fourth-grade core reporters for the Healthy Shark interviewed Ms. Melissa Davila, school counselor, about making connections.
Ms. Davila says a social connection is a person who is not in your family whom you interact with. A healthy social connection is when you have respect for each other. You share interest and time with each other, she said.
An unhealthy social connection is when people disrespect each other, Ms. Davila explained. Another way a connection is unhealthy is if friends take friends for granted.
If kids want to create a new social connection, they can find new groups of friends and try to get into different circles, said Ms. Davila. If kids have a hard time making social connections, they may want to start a conversation with a person, especially if they’re a very quiet person.
At the end of the interview, Ms. Davila gave this advice: “In order to make friends you have to be friendly and open to meetings. You should get to know people, even if they’re different.”
Illustration by Julianys, 4th grade, Isaac Sheppard, 25-26.
