Relative 14 year old has no friends and does not want any!
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What's wrong with that. I can count on one hand the number of close friends I've had through my entire life. None of them as a teenager.
So his priority is education over socializing, and you think this a problem?
Maybe he doesn't want any friends his age because he does not like people his age, does not share common interests with them, and can gain nothing productive to his priorities from them.
I think you need to back off. You say he actually does have conversations with people who are intelligent, older, and interested in similar things. That indicates not that he is socially crippled, but socially selective. That's not an unhealthy state, just not one you're accustomed to.
I second everything you said.
I couldn't have said it better.
I don't think that he necessarily has to have high school friends but I do think it is important that he interacts with people somewhere. He doesn't need a zillion friends but he needs at least one or two close friends. I would give him the choice. find a club or a group that he likes, just one group. It could be a chess club, a math club a science club, debate club, etc. There are tons that might be a good choice where he could find people he can relate with, you just might have to go outside the box or school network but I think humans need some sort of human contact. Don't force sports but encourage him to exercise, that is just important for being healthy doesn't matter if you are smart or not. I think it is good that his parent is concerned but parent also needs to realize that it isn't necessarily healthy to have a zillion friends either, just depends on the child.
And if this is a troll thread, then i apologize for feeding the troll.
Now wonder this society is going to hell in a handbasket. No one is allowed to be themselves.
Short attention span? Medicate!
High activity level? Medicate!
Intellectual instead of social? MED-I-CATE!
Sometimes people are just different and that's okay.
No doubt! I'd hate to be a child these days. I was a long haired loner who preferred music, reading, building stuff and playing guitar to being social. I had a few friends but was pretty quiet and not very outgoing. I was also rather small for my age and spent time in the "gifted" classes. Not everyone is a social butterfly. I think this is especially true of children who are a bit ahead of their peers intellectually.
Nowadays, I'd probably be pumped full of meds and be subjected to electroshock therapy.
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