Friendship is probably one of those essential and valuable things in life. Everyone needs someone to be close to, to trust, to share with, play, laugh, celebrate and cry with. Apart from family members, friends are the only other trusted relations one could choose to have. We all have the responsibility of choosing the kind of friends that we want.It is important to decide on the right person to call a friend. This is because friendship can either lead us to trouble or grow us into good and accepted people in the society. Therefore how you choose your friend is important. Whatever drives or attracts you towards somebody should always be positive, considering that friendship is meant to make us and not to destroy us.People tend to get attracted to those that appeal to them, whether physically, spiritually, mentally or socially. When someone likes you, they want to be close to you and do most things together with you. But what appeals to us is not sometimes right or acceptable. They could be things or behaviour that only fulfil our social desires. The kind of things that could land us into trouble. Sometimes young people go wrong and do not understand why their parents come in between their choices of friends. When you realise that your parents do not like your choice, it only means that they are for wrong motives. Young people should never be carried away by the pressure of desiring to be friends with misleading characters. We should like others for what they are. Look for all the positive things in their lives and stick to them to help you become a better person.We can always bump into good friends or bad ones.When young people are not sober or conscious in their choice of friends, they make mistakes that can affect their future. This is why they are sometimes dragged into vices such as drug abuse, pornography, illicit sex, robbery, gambling and alcohol.When people lead you to such behaviour, it only explains why they are not good friends. A good friend will always walk with you on the right path. They will advice you on the right things to do and correct you whenever necessary.Friends will definitely have a big influence in your life. You can change yourself and lifestyle to fit in with good friends. Some people do not tolerate vices, and to be part of them you must change. That really helps. Good friends will make you become a better person. Spending time with friends in positive activities like sports, community work, singing or reading will help you develop acceptable characters.A friend is therefore someone who we know well, someone we like and someone we trust. They will be with you in the right places, doing the right thing for the right purpose. You too can always be a friend to someone.The writer is an educationist