Tonight with your 9 to 12 year old

The prompt

“When you picture your friend group a few years from now, what do you imagine it looking like?”

What to listen for

If they picture the same friends they have now, that shows they feel secure in those bonds and expect loyalty to hold steady over time, a good sign of trust in their current relationships.

If they picture different or unknown people, that's not a red flag, it often just means they sense they're still becoming who they'll be, and their circle will grow and shift with them.

If they seem anxious about the question, that may mean a current friendship feels shaky, worth a gentle, separate follow-up later.

What this tells you

This shows how secure they feel in their current friendships and how they picture belonging over time.