My DS is nearing the end of Year 7 and has settled in well, enjoys school etc. Except for one thing - he has no close friends. He is in a class with one boy from his primary school, but this boy has now got a group of 4/5 boys as friends who are all quite similar - into banter, talking loads in class, messing around a bit, whereas my DS is really more nerdy and a rule follower. He is surface level friendly with these boys but his old friend is often a bit of a frenemy - making fun of him to the other boys, sometimes 'play fighting' too far etc. My DS is similarly friendly with a few other boys in his class but they all went to the same primary school so he's finding it hard to feel close friends with them.
He's joined lots of extra curricular stuff (sports but also games clubs, chess club etc) but it's the same story there - lots of people he can chat to but no close friendships developing. We've talked to him about developing boundaries with his old friend and how it can take time to make new friends and strategies he can use to talk to people but he was in tears this evening about how everyone else has close friends and he doesn't, and feeling there was something wrong with him, and it's so hard
Has anyone had a similar experience? Did your DC ultimately make close friends? Or any ideas how to make him feel a bit better about it all?