Boys need friends, suffer when they don't believe they have any, and worry over the ups and downs of relationships. Many adults believe that somehow boys need friends less than girls do, in truth, though, no boy is an island; boys value their friends throughout childhood and adolescence and are happier and healthier when they have solid relationships with peers . Despite the common belief that girls are better at relationships, most boys consider their friends a very important part of their lives, and boys may actually be better at keeping friendships than girls are. A recent study of 10 to 15yearold boys and girls found that girls' friendships are actually more fragile. Girls tend to say and do hurtful things to each other more frequently than boys, and girls are more hurt by the end of a friendship. Boys are the living definition of the phrase "peer group"; they love games with rules, competition, and doing things together. Boys seem to enjoy, even need the opportunity to test themselves against others, and many lasting friendships begin in karate  class or on the basketball court. Competence and skill are widely respected; being picked last for a team or left out altogether is an experience that can haunt  a boy for years. As boys mature , the friendship becomes even more important, and it frequently widens to include girls. During the teen years, friends can become the most important part of a boy's life--and a part in which his parents are not included. The confusion of being a teenager leads boys to form close bonds  with friends. There is the sense for many boys that a friend is someone who is "always there for me", someone he can trust. They may be partners in crime or partners in study, but the friendship of adolescent boys can run surprisingly deep. As a boy gets older, he tends to  _  .
widen his circle of friends to include different kinds of people shift his focus from his friends to himself leave his parents out of his friendship be confused about what a friendship is