Ways People Still In High School Can Work On Their Social Skills For The Future
Many socially awkward people look back at high school and feel like they wasted most of their time there. They'll tell you they spent the bulk their spare hours by themselves watching TV or playing video games a little too obsessively. They may not have made many friends at all, or only a bunch of shallow ones. If they go to university, they have a sense that they're socially unprepared and inexperienced when they get there, and that they missed out on four prime years to practice all that stuff.
It's totally unrealistic for someone to expect to get through high school without making at least some mistakes. That's just how it is. You're still really relatively young and aren't expected to approach the situation with the wisdom of a 50-year-old. Often people look back and see that during high school that their social problems weren't even on their radar. It's only later that they realized they didn't use their time as well as they could have.
If you are still in high school, and you're reading this, and you're already aware that you have some social issues you need to work on, here's my advice to help you use your time more effectively, so you can get your social skills up to speed:
Don't worry too much about high school, focus on getting in good shape for the years after
Building up your social skills takes time. When you're a teenager a lot of factors may keep you from reaching their full potential anyways: You might be physically gawky and awkward, you don't have as much life experience to draw on, your peers can be more childish and immature, and your emotional development isn't complete yet. Don't worry too much about how socially successful you are when you're fifteen. Some people are early bloomers and do okay at that age, but a lot don't. See the next few years as free practice and preparation for your college years and beyond.
Take advantage of any opportunities you have to work on your issues
The earlier you get started on improving your social aptitude the better. In the rest of the article I'll lay out some things you can try on your own. Though if you have the chance to get more professional help, do that too. Have a chance to join a free social skills training group? Go for it. Parents offering to pay for you to see a therapist to work on your social anxiety? Take them up on the offer. Don't worry about any stigma. Lots of people use these kinds of services, and a little discomfort now is worth it down the road. Also, make your priority to grab any free assistance you can, rather than worrying about whether you're hard up enough that you really need it.
Some thoughts on high school
High school is a funny kind of place. It's basically around 500-1500 people who are all confined to a relatively small building for about seven hours a day, five days a week. Since it's such a self-contained little universe some weird things happen that don't occur in the rest of the world.
For one, everyone pretty much knows of everyone else, or they could if they wanted to. In college and the real world there are too many people, and they're too spread out, for very many people to know you.
Another thing that happens is that you can get cachet for doing things in high school that no one cares about elsewhere. When you graduate you get to escape that whole world.
- If you play on a sports team, people will know and you'll get a certain boost in your reputation from it. The same thing happens in university, but it's a lot harder to get on the team. Once you're in the real world, no one really cares if you play in a rec. basketball league.
- Then there are always those kids that gain a certain infamy and respect because they're tough and commit crimes. After high school these guys either change their ways because the stakes for getting arrested get too high (i.e., they're legally adults now) or they just end up becoming sketchy nobodies.
- If you're a good student people may fawn all over you and tell you how special you are for being so smart. In university you may continue to get good grades, but you probably won't be the Golden Child anymore. Or if you take a challenging major you could end up getting your butt kicked. In the real world people generally don't care how smart you are on paper. They care about how good a job you can do, and how well you can get along with everyone while you do it.
A final thing that happens is that everyone cares a little too much about their status and where they stand in the big pecking order. Actually I'll say less sociable people aren't as susceptible to this. They often just want to be left alone. Again, once high school is over you're no longer stuck in a small building with the same people every day so this problem goes away. People worry about their own thing and their own social circle.
Your natural tendencies will get you down the road
The natural instincts of many people lead them to do things that gain them social and life experience. They hang out with their friends, they go to parties, they join clubs and teams, and they're eager to dive into 'grown-up' activities like driving, having a job, and going to bars.
The natural instinct of a lot of more shy or awkward people is to do things that don't gain them much of that relationship or life experience. Some do have a group of friends that they hang out with, but the worst case scenario is someone who spends all their time alone pursuing a single interest, but later regrets not spending his time in a more balanced way.
Limit the time you spend on your solitary interests and consciously try to spend more time out in the social world
Your interests are fun so I'm not going to be unrealistic and tell you to give them up entirely. Hey, if you're into something like programming, physics, or drawing concept art you could be working towards a rewarding future career. But if it's all you do then you're screwing yourself for the long-term.
Get your appearance in order
There's really no reason to look worse than you have to. If your high school is anything like most people's, there are few kids that get a hard time solely because they look greasy and scrubbish. See: The Importance Of Getting Your Appearance In Order.
Hang out with people more than you currently do
If you already have some friends then consciously try to spend more time with them. If you just have some acquaintances who you hang out with at lunch, or talk to in class, then try to hang out with them outside of school. Joining a team or club is a pretty standard way to get some friends, along with the other benefits they provide. Try to spend time with the opposite sex as friends as well, enough so that you start to see them as regular people, and not these mysterious, intimidating creatures.
For advice on making friends in the first place, see: How To Make Friends And Get a Social Life
Overall, just rack up those hours of social experience. However...
Don't hang out with people who treat you like crap
I've heard quite a few people give stories like this one:
"Man, back in high school there was one dorky, awkward kid who kept trying to hang around our group. We'd make fun of him to his face, throw things at him, play mean pranks on him, and try to ditch him whenever we could. We used to make him buy us cigarettes to be able to come over to our houses, then we'd kick him out after ten minutes. The only reason we even really kept him around was because it was so fun to rip on him all the time. When he learned to drive we all used him for the free rides... In hindsight we were assholes to that kid, but you know what? No matter how we treated him, he put up with it and still wanted to hang around us. What's with that?"
Don't be that kid. People in middle school and high school can be cruel assholes. If the group you hang around treats you badly, then take a hint and stop hanging around with them. Don't get sucked into the mentality where you'd do anything to hang around the popular kids, even if it means taking abuse from them. Any benefits you'd get from technically being in a popular crowd are outweighed by the fact that you're going to be bitter and scarred later on in life. This isn't to say I think all so-called cool kids are evil, that's too simplistic, just that you shouldn't hang around the ones who are personally mean to you.
Get some new friends if you have to. Lots of people's high school experience changed for the better when they switched to a better social group. Even hanging out with supposedly dorky people who are nice to you is much better in the long run than tagging along with a so-called cool group who tease you mercilessly. If you hang around the dorky, nice people, in the end you'll come out a little socially clueless maybe, but more or less well-adjusted. You can always catch up in the social skills department later. But if you've been picked on to the point of becoming messed up, then there's a harder road ahead for you.
Be a social dabbler and don't put all your chips in with one clique
Try to be friendly with as many groups and types of people as you can. You can learn a lot from each of them. Try not to fall in with only one clique or subculture and develop an Us vs. Them / This Scene Vs. That Scene mentality.
Expand your social circle outside of your school
Try to have some friends that go to other schools, or who you know from other places. It's harder to care about how popular you are in one little place when you know there's a bigger world out there.
Get a job as soon as you can
First of all you'll get some money, but it's also good life experience and makes you that much more mature. Consider getting something that will improve your social skills to some degree, like working retail. Being in a place that employs lots of people your age never hurts. Without being a pesky kid, try to hang around some of the older guys there and absorb a thing or two from them.
Learn to drive as soon as you can
Being able to drive also increases your maturity and independence. Even if you don't see yourself as needing a car, or being able to afford one, for years to come, at least learn how to drive anyways. If you put it off it's more of a hassle to pick up the skill later in life.
If money isn't a problem, take up any chances you can to go on trips
If you have the opportunity to go on an exchange to another country for a semester or two, go for it. If there are optional ski-trips or excursions to other parts of the country then think about going. Go on Spring Break. It's an accurate cliche that traveling really makes you grow as a person.
Figure out a sport you like and get good at it
This will get you in shape, help keep your emotions nice and balanced out, and give you a good boost in confidence. If you hate team sports, try something solitary like biking, dancing, martial arts, or rock-climbing. If nothing else, just work out a lot.
Some students have a chip on their shoulder about sports, because of bad experiences they've had in gym class, or simply because they resent that the rest of the world seems so obsessed with football while they just don't care. That's not the fault of all sports themselves though. They have a ton of benefits. Giving them a shot may give you the firsthand experience that helps you eliminate your baggage towards them.
Go to parties
I'm not saying you have to drink underage or smoke lots of drugs. Lots of people never get into that stuff. But at least see what parties are like and build up some experience being in that environment.
Go to dances/proms/formals, etc.
Might as well. Go with your friends. Lots of fun to be had, or at the very least some learning opportunities. Don't miss out on these types of things.
Go to bars whenever you can
That's another environment it doesn't hurt to get some experience with. A head start never hurts, so they're not totally intimidating and alien to you in your early 20's. I'm not saying to get a fake I.D., but if there are all-ages nights or all-ages concerts you can go to, give it a try. Try going to outdoor festival-type concerts or parties as well.
Learn about the world and shed your innocence
Towards the end of high school and in early university some socially awkward people will frequently get told that they come across as really naive and innocent. Their inexperience is showing through. Try to learn about how the world works. Reading is good for this.
If you do go to university, prepare for it ahead of time
Here's an article I wrote about getting a social life together at college that has a lot of suggestions:
