Dear Miss Emily,

I have 6 friends and my brother that I play with almost every night. We are supposed to play games outside and have fun, but we have been arguing lately. My two friends keep arguing about little things, and others argue too. i want our group to stay together but we keep arguing. Help me find a way to stop the arguing.

-------------------------------Miss Emily's advice-----------------------
I'm not sure you can designate yourself the leader in trying to get these friends to stop arguing, or they may turn on you. It's a jungle out there! But you can take them aside, one by one, and ask them to tone it down. If it's something competitive, suggest a heads, or tails coin flip. When it gets too heavy, simply remove yourself from the arguing and tell them "I'm out of here, when you stop fighting, come get me." If they don't stop, see them only in smaller groups, rather than the whole. I know, it's sad they aren't getting along. But you don't have to put up with it, and you can decide to stay, or leave. That is your right, with apologies to none!