ABSTRACT
Students’ experiences in school are hardly limited to individualized academic endeavors. Academic achievement and personal development occur within the context of a number of interpersonal relationships among peers. Interactions with classmates, friends, foes, cliques, and romantic interests color the everyday experience for students, and the literature on childhood and adolescence recognizes the important role that peer interaction plays in the socialization process and academic adjustment (Parker & Asher, 1987). School counselors play a critical role in facilitating students’ positive interpersonal relations and managing the challenges involved at the dyadic, group, and schoolwide level. Possessing the requisite knowledge and skills to attend to facilitating positive peer relations, school counselors can bridge the gap between students’ needs with respect to academic success and positive psychosocial functioning.
