Is it important that I only have friends my own age?

Question

An answer in recent question said that it was important for children to have friends in their peer group. Is it important that I, as adult, have friends in my peer group? Should I enroll in a school with only 54 year olds in the class so that I will be socially accepted and not nerdy?

I now have only one friend who is 54 and she will soon be 55.

Answer 1

to me it more important to have friends of  all ages to learn from. the same friends are not going to tell you things that they don't known or not interested in. so why limit yourself ? younger people can keep you up on somethings and older ones can remind us of the past . we need to learn things every day, to keep our minds going. we are always thinking.why worry  about what others think? when your there to learn in class,who cares? the ones who care are the ones who are the outcaast because they don't get humans have feelings  and that we all are humans.no matter what.

Answer 2

I'm 13, my oldest friend is 24 (he is so cool!), and my youngest 9, and if has definetly made me smarter and such, no you don't need to have friends your own age, i find that rather stupid.

Answer 3

Yes, I strongly believe it is important for children to have friends in their peer group.  I say this, because I believe that children around the same age usually have similar interests and are more likely to be at the same stages developmentally.  (Of course, there are always exceptions to this.)  One's peer group, however, does not include people who are exactly one's age.  

Having friends outside of one's peer group, for me, has become a lot easier as I have matured.  It was not easy for me to do as a teenager or as a young adult, and this may very well have been because of a public school mentality.

Answer 4

Well, if she's turning 55 before Christmas that means she'd be ahead of you in school.  That means she's not technically a peer right?  So, you probably shouldn't be her friend - she's too old for you.

You need to go out in the streets and find some friends your own age.   Make sure you find someone who is nasty to you and looks down on you.  After all, you have to learn to deal with horrible people who treat you mean.

Answer 5

You know what? If you have friends, good friends even, consider yourself lucky and don't worry about how old they are, how old you are or what kind of friends others think you should have

Answer 6

Personally, I grew up having friends of all ages, and I wouldn't consider myself nerdy by any means!  I think that while it IS important to have friends your own age, it is also benaficial to have other aged friends as well.  You learn to relate to people on different levals, which is important, and you tend to have more respect for others because of that.

Answer 7

Have as many friends of whatever age you would like!  Why limit yourself.  You can never have too many friends!

Answer 8

you only have one friend that is your age???? Well! I certainly hope this friend is in the exact same neighborhood and has roughly the same income level and lives in a house within the same price range as yours. And I'm sure it goes without saying that you spend approximately eight hours a day sitting in a room with your friend doing busy work and not actually interacting with one another.

If not, you are doomed to be a social outcast the rest of your life.

ROFLOL!!!!!!!

good point.

Answer 9

I prefer to have friends of all ages.  I went to Public School, (late 70's through 80's) and honestly I didn't have very many friends there.  One or two kids at a time were my friends, the rest were either just "there" or they were picking on me.  I usually had friends outside of school that were a few years older than me, I read the same books they read, and could converse with them.  When it came to kids my own age most of them had little in common with me.  They were into the latest TV show and I was into classic literature, they were into Micheal Jackson and Boy George, and I was into Elton John, Elvis, Lynard Skynard,  and the Beatles.  They were into Jordache (sp?) Jeans, and I couldn't care less what kind of pants of I had on, as long as they were clean and without holes.

To this day I have friends of all ages, from ten or fifteen years younger than me to those 25 years older.   I think it is much more natural, and exposes me to different perspectives on things.

Answer 10

I love it! I guess all of my friends should be 29 or so! My oldest friend is in her 60s and my youngest is 18! I think it's important for kids to be around all age groups! I think it's funny that people actually think that kids should only have friends in their peer groups! After all I remember my peer groups in school. The biggest thing they could figure out to do was party, get drunk and do what ever drug they could find! Yeah lets get kids that can influence ours in those ways. So stupid! Great question for the ones who are so adamant about how home schooled kids don't get socialization! I'll give you a star which color do you want? Red, blue, gold, silver, or green? lol!