A Little Help from Your Friends

No matter how shy you are, you will probably at least want to tell your closest friends about your diabetes. That way, they'll be able to tell when you might be having low blood sugar and get help.

Some kids will first find out you have diabetes when they see you testing your blood, injecting insulin, or eating a snack to treat low blood sugar, and that's a perfect chance to tell them about diabetes, even if they're scared to ask you about it.

The more they know about diabetes, the less they will bug you when you eat a snack ("You shouldn't be eating a cookie — you have diabetes!") or give you a hard time when you have to step out of the classroom.

One way to get it out in the open is to do a class presentation at the beginning of the school year. Dr. Mary Simon, a diabetes expert who works with children in California, says that even though you may feel weird about it, most kids think it's pretty cool.