In life, one will meet a wide variety of friends. Most of these friends will be temporary, some will be permanent, and unfortunately, some will be toxic. While there is a universal agreement that toxic friendships are unhealthy, the difficulty lies in the process of cutting off these harmful relationships.

Often times, toxic friendships do not start harmfully; instead, they tend to develop over time. They usually begin as regular friendships do, over a laugh, a common interest, or a shared enemy. But as the friendship continues to grow and you begin entrusting them with your thoughts and secrets, you notice some alarming tendencies.

He/She begins to pressure you into making bad decisions, they tend to always ake when they are asked to hang out, and they begin to be judgmental of you when you do different activities from him/her. These are all signs of a toxic friendship.

The difficulty, however, lies in recognizing that your friend is blatantly bad for you and your emotional health. No one wants to admit that they made a mistake in judgment by befriending the wrong person. As a result, many people will try to force the situation in order to try and make the relationship work in order to justify their own decision-making, but ultimately in the end everyone comes to the same conclusion: I have made a mistake and have to end this friendship.

When dealing with toxic friendships, it is vital to remember to prioritize yourself first. While friendships and relationships are important, your own happiness and emotional health is the most important factor when weighing and debating whether or not to end a friendship or not.

Many of today’s teenagers deal with this issue on a daily basis. Here at Sherwood, many of the students deal with toxic friendships in a variety of ways. Senior Skylar Herman deals with bad friends in a non-confrontational way, confessing, “I slowly distance myself from the toxic friend and surround myself with people who genuinely care about me.” This way, the friendship ends slowly which minimizes drama and stress. But others confront their friend as soon as possible.

Said an anonymous senior, who did not want to have her and her ex-friend linked together, “I think it’s only right to confront them, to tell them that things are ending. I need to make it clear that it’s their fault and tell them their mistakes, so at least in the future they don’t do the same thing over again.” While this may cause con ict and unpredictable outcomes, this is the fastest way to conclude a friendship. While your ex-friend may not appreciate it at the time, by telling them why you’re breaking things off, it gives them a de nitive reason as to why the relationship is ending.

While there are a variety of ways to deal with a toxic friendship, the answer is quite obvious. Poisonous friendships have absolutely no place in your life. They are proven time and time again to be a detriment to your emotional and mental health and impede your overall happiness. Do what is best for you and end any of your toxic relationships that currently have a negative impact on your life.