Updated June 30, 2015.

Many teens develop social relationships quite easily, making friends in their schools and local communities. Teens often grow up with peers and form long standing relationships that serve them well through their youth, sometimes even transitioning into adulthood.

For some teens, however, developing friendships represent a real struggle. They often feel lonely, different from others, and never quite fit in with the other kids.

Those teens often have a keen awareness of their lack of social skills and may feel isolated and depressed as a result.

Fortunately, there are things parents can do to help teens navigate the social world that can help them to gain confidence, feel more at ease, and develop badly needed friendships.

If you're dealing with a shy teen, it can become easy for them to avoid large crowds, public places, and social gatherings due to their discomfort. Some parents have success in helping their teens overcome shyness by taking them into public settings, such as small coffee shops or restaurants.

Take your teen to a local spot and encourage her to place an order herself, look around, and make eye contact and smile at others. Keep her engaged in conversation to help her relax. Becoming more comfortable around a small crowd can help boost her confidence and set the stage for dealing with larger crowds, or small social settings.

If you have friends who have teens of a similar age, it can be helpful to invite them and their kids to your home or meet them out somewhere for a group activity.

Parents can help draw teens out with conversation to help find common interests.

Most teens have interests or activities they enjoy pursuing that place them in a social setting, such as dance or art classes, sports, music lessons, a church youth group, or even a cooking class.

Look for classes in your local community that are centered around specific age groups and find one appropriate for your teen. He will meet peers that already share a common interest and they will have a great time learning something new.

Sometimes, with a very shy teen, you can even speak with the instructor in advance and see if she might partner your teen up with a more outgoing peer. A more outgoing teen might be able to help draw your teen out a little and make him feel more comfortable.

Encourage your shy teen not to go into new situations anticipating that people will not like her. Often, shy teens lack confidence and are sure people will reject them.

Talk to your shy teen to determine what she believes are her most positive qualities. Point out what you believe are her most positive qualities.

Encourage her to remember that while it is easy to feel self-conscious and shy around others, in reality, others are often very focused on themselves as well, and are giving much less critical thought to your words and actions than you may think.

Help your shy teen practice making conversation with role playing. It may seem silly, and it may seem really silly to your teen, but it can help to build his confidence so that he feels more prepared when dealing with others.

It can also be helpful to buy your teens some books on experiences of overcoming shyness. Your teen is not the first to experience being shy, and there is material available to coach teens on successful methods for overcoming shyness and social anxiety.

It can be helpful for your teen to have the awareness that what he is going through is not uncommon and something many have struggled with. You can purchase books, visit your local library, or download e-books from online resources.

Struggling with a shy teen can be difficult for the parent and the teen, but it is often a problem that can be overcome with encouragement and a little help. Many teens will often outgrow the problem as they gain more confidence that comes from life experience. For others, a visit with a mental health professional may be in order, if symptoms of severe social anxiety are present or start to develop.