how can I help my 12yr old dd to become happier/content/have friends etc

[Gatekeeper]

dd was upset last night; she says she feels like a 'third wheel' in any friendships at school and not part of anything. She is in yr 7 and says she is a misfit. Most of the other girls in her year are seriously into clothes, make-up, boys and image. They all seem identikit to me with their pouts and Groucho Marx eyebrows. A lot of them are seriously over indulged and have all the labels and lots of spending money. We are ok but not much spare for stuff like that

She is having trouble with 'clicking' with people and forming friendships, not helped by the fact that she hates 1D and boybands, but loves Manga and anime and is perceived as being quirky or a bit wierd

It doesn't help that the school encatchment has a wide radius so anyone who she is vaguely friendly with lives miles away and not on a direct bus route.

not much in the way of afterschool clubs and besides, she has to get the school bus home.

I felt my heart break for her when she was asking a few girls to meet up at a central point one Saturday for her birthday; the deal was that we would stand them a meal at Nandos (or wherever) and a visit to the 1950's style ice cream parlour (v. popular with her year). All refused saying the had other plans but I saw their postings on dd's facebook page later saying "Bored" "Nothing to do " etc and not one wished her a Happy Birthday- I felt like crying for her..

She is lovely..quirky, funny, clever and beautiful- she is emotional, & lacks confidence. I am worried that she doesn't go out much , spending most of her time writing stories or drawing and living too much in her head, becoming a bit obsessive about certain manga characters etc

Would love some advice on this please; am feeling a bit teary today

It may be worth buying "the unwritten rules of friendship" for her, it is quite useful - however if she is unlucky and these girls are not good friend material and she truly does have niche interests then it may be worth her pursuing friendships outside school via clubs or special interest web boards.

It also sounds like she would have more in common with boys but at 12 the sexes tend to split into polar groups and it does leave a few people stranded.

My DD has quirky interests - she loves comic books and lego - as a result her best friend is a boy (which they both get a fair amount of stick about) and in order to talk about comics she chats away to us and our adult friends who are into comics.

I was seen as quirky and weird at school - and only had a small friendship circle, it isn't a bad thing - one good friend is enough for most situations.

It may be best for her to pursue a 1-1 friendship rather than try to be part of a big group.

I understand in a way. I used to go to school far away and y friends from school could never come to my home. I also relate to being quirky. The best thing I would suggest you can do to reinforce your DD's self-esteem is let her know that she's good the way she is. My parents used ot tell me to care more about style and boy bands etc., which 1. just wasn't going to hapen and 2. made me feel as t hough my parents were on the side of the people exlcuding me. One thing I've foudn helped, but I don't know if this will inspire you in any way, is going on a summer camp that was alla bout computers (which was my special interest). I'm pretty sure there are anime/manga activities somewhere. The camp I attended was even international, so it doesn't have to Always be local.

Hi there, your daughter sounds lovely. I have a toddler rather than a teenager so I'm sure someone more qualified will come along shortly. But my thoughts are that your daughter sounds really creative and perhaps it would be a good idea to find a writing class or a group that she's interested in so that she can make friends with like minded people outside of school. It's great that she doesn't just follow the prevailing trends of her school peers but it must be tough. I often felt like an outsider during my school days so joined clubs that reflected my interests and ended up with a circle of friends outside of school.

thank you; posts have affirmed what my husband has been telling me, that it's just the way she is. I don't want her feeling unhappy though but will stop banging on about her joining clubs, groups etc incase she starts to worry what she is, isn't 'good enough'

I was a quirky child and teen as was dh and I can still remember my mother saying " Why can't you be more like Janice''? etc etc

thank you all

It sounds like she needs to find some friends with similar interests which might be easier out of school. Has she tried scouts/guides? Are there any art-type groups nearby (thinking Manga) or any groups in areas that she is interested in?

i'd just go for finding ways to allow her to pursue the things she 'is' interested in and open up potential to meet people she does have things in common with that way.

who wants to fit in to that shit really? remind her about how different life is beyond school and encourage her to pursue her interests and her identity with confidence.

random anecdote but my nextdoor neighbour is worried about his 19yo son not going out on the town or having loads in common with the wideboys he's at college with. from the outside it's quite clear that the son is 'alternative' for want of a better word but has never been exposed to circles he'd meet his own kind in. i've threatened to take him to a music festival.

actually there you go - take her to really family friendly alternative festivals over the summer.

do it! go on. that would be my advice actually - find ways to show her how many different types of people there are in the world and cultures and subcultures that people belong to.

Thanks once again; not much in the way of groups round here anyway and we have already tried scouts/guides. Will be keeping eyes and ears open for anything that might interest her. In durham so if anyone knows of anything happening let me know please.

Reassuring though that we aren't the only ones

There are lots of teens interested in manga etc- she sounds great. Far better not to follow the crowd but tough. Is she aware of comic conventions? Gatherings full of people like her. Will ask dd for link later. The web is a good place to explore interests- with caveats!! Would her art teacher know of art groups?

Did she go to a school with no primary school friends? My DD is a year 7 and although a lot of her friends are new we still have primary school contacts where I am friendly with mum and can play a part in organising things for out of school. Can you do that to give her some company.

I'm also actually still a bit nervous if DD makes an arrangement for out of school with no apparent adult involvement e.g. would be a bit thrown by a birthday thing that wasn't backed by an invite with mum/dad contact to RSVP to. Maybe if the arrangement was very loose other girls aren't at the stage of committing to that rather than actively rejecting her.

Dd 16 recommends www.deviantart.com if she doesn't know it- online art community. Dd says look at parental controls!

I have a similar thing with ds - most of his peers are into football, he isn't, he's happy enough bit I worry he's becoming isolated

Have PM'd you op

My DD1 didn't really find the like minded friends until end y8.
They were there, it just took time to come across them.

I do think that encouraging her to look a bit more widely for friendships might be the best thing. My dd is 12, also in yr 7 - she says that she has nothing in common with the girls in her class because they are all obsessed with sport, particularly rugby which they play every break time, and music, neither of which are her 'thing'.

She's made friends through lunchtime clubs in school, a couple in her year but also girls in older years through hanging out in the library. Funnily enough one particular friend is a yr 9 girl who is obsessed with manga/comics. Out of school her two closest friends are both boys (but boys who don't like rugby!!!)

I was a bit like this at the lower end of secondary school. Miserable and lonely for a good few years, and I never even told my parents as I didn't want them to worry. Didn't really find my niche until the sixth form, when I suddenly found a fantastic friendship group that randomly included some of the "coolest" kids who I would never have dreamt of even approaching previously. Suddenly, being clever and quirky was good - who knew?!

My dd is quirky in a lot of ways too, and doesn't like a lot of the stuff that her friends are into. However, she seems to attract friends despite her quirkiness, and she is very popular. I have spent a lot of time pondering the difference between me and her, and I think it's confidence. DD is totally comfortable in her own skin and doesn't worry about being different. She accepts herself and gives off positive vibes to others about who she is - and I'm guessing I didn't.

I don't know what I'm saying really, maybe just that it might help to work on your dd's self esteem and confidence, and that the friendships might follow by themselves. It's awful to feel left out at school. I feel for her.

I could have written your exact post, my year 7 dd is going through the exact same thing, she is funny, gorgeous, clever but isn't fitting in with her peer group. She spends some breaks alone and tries so hard to fit in but doesn't 'fangirl' over grown men in 'boybands' so doesn't have that in common. Its heartbreaking and keeping me awake at 4am and made me cry on occasion. Watching this thread with interest.

I feel for you op. My elder dd is year 4, but I think this will be her in year 7. I was similar too but as another poster has said, I went from being teased and thought nerdy to being cool, with all the girls who had looked donw on me wanting to borrow my (large collection) vintage clothes. I agree that finding like minded people out of school for the next two or three years would help, and then the others will have caught up bit and she will have more kudos than she does now, when the alpha girl groups are all like sheep.

thank you once again for all your lovely replies; AnonButRegular will pm you a bit later

Confidence is def. the key and she keeps saying about having none/low esteem etc. Me and dh tell her something good about her every day and never put her down, but like Iseenyou says it's a case of 'well you would say that, you're my mam' etc

She keeps talking about "the popular girls" and I mentally want to shake her to make her stop. I feel she is wistful and at odds with her thinking - one one hand she thinks 'those girls' are a waste of time as all they talk about is handbags etc but she would like to be popular as well

She is staying back for an afterschool art class tonight; there is a manga/anime one on but only for year 9 and over but better than nothing.

She is adamant that she doesn't want to do sport "please don't force me mam" so even though I feel it may be beneficial I don't want to do that as she would lose trust in me.

Other than that, I am unsure- finances prevent a lot of stuff, school doesn't do much in the way of interesting afterschool stuff and there just isn't anything else happening in and around a ex pit village!

Thank you for listening and let me ramble though- it does help as it puts my thoughts into perspective and I can also get feedback from other parents who are/were in the same boat

I'm worried this will be my ds at secondary - his form will have no- one he knows, hates sports, he's on a back step before he's even started. I could cry for him :(

it's awful isn't it ? Sometimes at night I will start to think about it and get myself into a horrible lurching panic at the thought of her standing on her own at lunchtime etc

You seem very negative about the other girls - "identikit.... with their pouts and Groucho Marx eyebrows." Some of these "identikit" girls will feel just as isolated as your DD - I think you maybe need to encourage your DD to look behind the make-up. She might just find that there are girls out there who don't look like her... but are very similar (albeit under a thick layer of foundation).