Another scenario that can happen when a child pulls away from a friend group is when that child starts to do so intentionally. This happened with one of my kids. My child started making excuses for not hanging around with old friends. It perplexed me at first but I later pieced together that the kids were starting to engage in behavior my child did not like and did not want to be a part of. Children can be hesitant to articulate their reasons for no longer hanging out with friends because they don’t want to risk getting others in trouble.