Art of friendship

From the The Argus, first published Friday 15th Dec 2006.

Well done, The Argus. Saturday's front page (December 9) highlighted the importance of friendship.

Kala Gallacher and Abigail Moles, two young ladies aged 11 and both from Portslade, were due to appear on BBC2's children's show TMi that morning in a quiz called Call yourself a best friend?, which "tested their friendship".

Their parents and their school must be very proud of them and I hope they are proud of themselves, too.

I watched the show with my eightyear- old son, who really enjoyed it.

On a more serious note though, childhood friendships are so very important. They impact upon the futures we build for ourselves. A good friend at school helps children feel secure and safe and those feelings are with us throughout our lives.

Equally important is the issue of bullying in school. When I was young, I experienced life at the hands of a very nasty bully.

I lived with it and I am, I believe, stronger than I would otherwise have been.

In fact, it has made me the type of person who is not afraid to speak out and speak up, particularly where I can see injustice and inequality.

As a child, I can remember feeling that without my best friend I would have found the bullying very hard to cope with.

Well done Kala and Abi. You are both the "stars" of Portslade.