Why Finding the Right Places to Meet Friends Matters

Making friends can be hard — especially if you don’t know where to find them.

We hear it all the time from parents and young people: “They want friends, but they just don’t have anyone to talk to.” Or “There’s no one their age that they connect with.” And sometimes, that’s true — because they’re simply not in the right spaces to meet like-minded people.

In the PEERS® Social Skills Program, one of the first things we talk about is the idea of a “source of friends.” It’s exactly what it sounds like: the places and spaces where people can meet peers who share similar interests, values, and social energy.

Good sources of friends are often structured around shared interests — like a sport, a gaming group, an art class, a youth group, or even a regular meet-up. What matters most is that:

• It meets regularly (not just once or twice),
  

• It includes people close in age,
  

• It offers unstructured time for casual chatting and connection.
  

It’s not enough to just be around people — we want our young people to be around the right people, in the right kind of environment. One where they’re more likely to feel safe, accepted, and open to conversation.

Once they're in the right setting, we teach them how to start conversations, how to join in respectfully, and how to figure out who might be a good fit as a friend.

Because when young people are in places that genuinely match their interests and needs, socialising feels easier and friendships start to form more naturally.

Sometimes the biggest shift isn’t in how a person socialises — it’s in where they’re trying.

If your teen or young adult is feeling stuck or lonely, helping them find a good source of friends might be the most powerful first step.

We teach exactly how to do this in the PEERS® program — and we’ve seen firsthand the difference it makes.