Study reveals kids from violent neighborhoods refrain from making friends

Studies from the University of Chicago indicate that children from violent neighborhoods have trouble making friends at school. Many kids do not even use the word "friend," but rather refer to a close classmate as an associate, reported Miller-McCune.com.

Researchers found that students would conduct background checks on their peers to see whether they could be trusted and relied on. For instance, one child in the study invited a classmate to a party and staged a fight with someone else to see if her peer would intervene.

The study interviewed 44 students, between the ages of 11 and 15 from predominately high-poverty elementary schools and found that the students had a "bunker mentality" towards other classmates. Experts explain the term as defensiveness resulting from repeated attacks.

Teen boarding schools can help those who live in high-crime neighborhoods and who struggle socially to achieve new levels of success through innovative education.

Experts worry that children will have a difficult time forming trusting bonds as they enter adulthood. Furthermore, the pre-adolescent years are the formative time frame during which kids learn how to make friends, but in troubled neighborhoods, children are forced to develop faster and be more guarded.