Friends and International Friendship Day this Wednesday (20th) is to celebrate those people who provide emotional support and share important moments in our lives. According to educator and professor at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) Hugo Monteiro Ferreira, it is also a day to discuss friendship and remember the importance of healthy relationships.
“Friendship is our great existential and psychological ballast. […]it’s missing a floor, a floor where I feel safer to face challenges,” said Ferreira.
The National School Health Survey (Pense), conducted by IBGE in 2019 with 9th grade students and published in July 2022, indicates that 3.7% of respondents in Recife report not having a single close friend. In 2012, this share was 3.1%.
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In terms of gender, 6.8% of boys in the latest survey said they had no close friends. For girls, the percentage is 0.6% (more on the statistics below).
Ferreira, also a specialist in the mental and emotional health of children, adolescents and young people, explained that the group targeted in the research is part of what he calls the “bedroom generation,” a subject he is turning into a book Has .
This generation communicates a lot via virtual social networks. “The fourth generation builds bonds of friendship, but bonds that are threatened. What kind of threat? The fear of frustration, of loss, of the breach of the created expectation. So there is friendship, but there is a very detailed friendship,” assessed the governess. .
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For the book, the educator listened to 3,115 young people between the ages of 11 and 18 (See more about the book in the video above). “Even these guys that come out of kindergarten and the groups that form in high school, I realize that those relationships aren’t always healthy,” Ferreira said.
A healthy friendship, says the educator, is made up of a few basics, with mutual affection and acceptance of the person as fundamental points.
“Friendship is perhaps the greatest feeling of social connection that we can build. Friends are fundamental because I cannot survive without them, but without submission I can. Friends want me to be who I can be. Friend who wants you to be what he is, wants him to stop being your friend,” Ferreira explained.
George Vieira, psychologist and educator of the Welfare in Education program of the Ministry of Education of Recife, pointed out that regardless of age, attention must be paid to affective ties and their formation.
“Today, attachments are very much mediated through digital, information and communication technologies. They’re not necessarily real bonds if we only identify and bond with what we think the person is and not with what actually is,” he emphasized.
2 out of 3 students arrive for classes at a private school in Recife, in a file image — Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo/Arquivo
Students come to class at a private school in Recife, in the archive image — Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo/Arquivo
The program in which Viera works tries, among other things, to work with a careful look at personal problems that can cause discomfort and offers tools for this. For him, adequate affective ties are essential to understanding that conflict in human relationships usually exists, but need not be harmful or violent.
“Friendship is a key contributor to a better school environment for everyone. We know that for children and young people, the school environment is ultimately an extension of their home,” emphasized Vieira.
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To do this, educators need to understand the difficulties and social context of the students in order to better understand them. “Awarenessraising work in the schools is important, so that the school is perceived by the students as a place of refuge from their daily pain,” said the psychologist.
“Promoting friendship between students, between students and teachers is important to create a harmonious atmosphere, but not idyllic. It is hard to believe that the school is heaven on earth,” said Vieira.
Friendship, the psychologist and educator emphasized, must be understood as a bond with people. And as social beings, humans are always looking to connect with others in some way.
“That bond can even weaken over the years. Today, I can’t relate to childhood friends anymore, but that’s a lot more because we’re losing touch. The affective bond stays in our heads, like a longing,” he emphasized.
3 out of 3 devices that look like mobile phones are used for IBGE research — Photo: Reproduction/IBGE
Devices that look like mobile phones are used for IBGE research — Photo: Reproduction/IBGE
The statistics presented in Pense are still considered experimental and the one produced with the last three surveys was published in July 2022. IBGE’s planning and management manager in Pernambuco, Fernanda Estelita, explained that this means that it is in a process of consolidation.
“This doesn’t mean it’s not a valid statistic. It’s valid, but it doesn’t yet have a story built in a way that we can have a consolidated structure. She is evaluated, given guidance, criticism and suggestions. She’s under development,” said Fernanda.
An innovative aspect of the survey is that Year 9 students answer the survey directly on electronic devices such as a cell phone. Many questionnaires previously used were conducted with parents, not students.
“He [aluno] reacts directly to the device and does not have to look me in the face. It makes him feel a lot more comfortable telling the truth,” Fernanda said.
The questionnaires were used in classrooms with multiple students, all responding at the same time. “It’s research I love because we’re talking directly to the person. […] We’re getting an audience that’s not used to being heard by society, by the public. These are students who are 13 or 14 years old,” said the manager.
The study also dealt with topics such as teenage pregnancy, alcohol consumption, mental health, among other things.
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