Parents often talk about the importance of socializing to their children, in order to ensure the child is fully adapted in his or her environment. However, a new study is suggesting that not only may friends be an important aspect in developing social ability, but also in the child's academics.

According to research published in the Journal of Early Adolescence, middle school children who had friends who were respectful in the classroom ultimately did better in their school assignments compared to students who were friends with problem children.

However, researchers were also surprised to discover that when girls who were not performing as well chose friends who were receiving the highest marks in the class, they suffered long term because they felt like they were not on par with their friends.

"We don't know the mechanisms on why it is this way for girls, but we can speculate that girls compare themselves to their friends and then decide they are not doing very well," said the study's co-author, Marie-Helene Veronneau. "Perhaps this affects their self-efficacy and belief in their own abilities."