Difference Between Social and Academic Friends

In life we all have different circles of friends. There are your work friends, gym friends and for some, our friends with benefits! So why is then that in school we seemed to only have one set of friends? And furthermore, when it came to achieving well at school did these friends have your best interests at heart? Reflecting on those school years now it's easy to see that the people who achieved well at school had their friendship groups sorted well before you and I. They knew the real benefits and difference between social and academic friends.

Social friends are your mates, they are the ones you played sport with, hang out with, shared the same music tastes and, god forbid, dressed the same as. They are also the people you most likely got into trouble with at school, and as a result, your social friends are also the ones that sabotage your study habits. Remember the last time you sat down to study with one of your social friends and all you ended up doing was talking about that party on the weekend or that hot guy or girl at school. Let's face it, there was no study completed at all. This is because with this particular group of friends you are accustomed to a certain level of fun, enjoyment and conversation. The relationship with social friends is exactly that, social. They are not designed to have your academic needs in mind, and they probably don't even realize that they have leaded you astray.

Your Academic friends, however are the people you study with or team with to do group assignments. They are the friends that have your academic interests at heart. The reason for this is because they also wish to achieve at the highest level possible and are willing to put in the hard work like you to get it. This group of friends may have some of your social friends in it, but the likely hood will be low. Looking at your friends now, you possibly only have one or two close friends that manage to mix across your friendship groups but rarely will each group be the same people. This is because each group you have serves a purpose. The academic group's purpose is to create an environment of success and achievement at school, where as, the social group creates the fun, laughter, trust and the good times. Each friendship group you place yourself with contains other like minded individuals looking to achieve similar outcomes.

The idea of social groups is not new, however, for any educators or parents reading this article, it is an important conversation worth having with your student. It requires self-discipline and a number of hard decisions about possible friendship groups. Although, if you think about the wonderful relationships and support you receive from your friendship groups it makes perfect sense to create these networks earlier in life.

Chris is school teacher who was looking for another way to help students achieve their desires at school. He found that most students were struggling at times to complete study and homework at home without help. Therefore his online maths tutoring was born in order to provide an environment where students and parents can experience success through learning.