DD (Y8) has a friend who is really mean to her - basically critical and unkind - she feels that this friend is particularly mean to her out of their group of friends. She says nobody else really notices this girl's behaviour, although she once asked one of their mutual friends about it & the other girl said "oh that's just the way she is"...
I've suggested to DD that she tries to spend time with other friends, but she says she likes everyone else in the group and doesn't want to stop hanging out with them. We live in the same village as most of this group of friends, & mean girl calls for DD every morning to walk to school together as part of the group. It would certainly be hard for DD to avoid her or cut her out.
I don't really know how to support or advise DD with this. I feel that she either needs to ignore mean girl's comments, avoid mean girl's company, or talk to her directly about it. It's quite possible that mean girl doesn't know the impact her behaviour has on DD.
Any experience or wise words?