Some people might say that letting a friend make a mistake is better than taking action that risks destroying a friendship. In my opinion, however, we sometimes need to take action for a friend not to make a mistake: it helps a friend to get better and true friendship stem from telling the truth.
First, taking action, or giving good advice helps a friend to get better. Some people might say that pointing out mistakes can be a bad influence on the friendship because the friend might feel offended. However, if one avoids taking action and helping their friend not to make mistakes, the friend cannot get better. Therefore, in order to help a friend to improve oneself, we need to give good advice about his or her mistakes. For example, one of my friends often pointed out my mistakes in English class, and I sometimes felt offended. However, thanks to her advice, I practiced harder and harder, and I finally got good score in English class. In this way, it is sometimes necessary to say something that does not sound nice.
Second, true friendship stem from telling the truth. Generally, what strengthens the human relations is being true and sharing opinions or ideas frankly. Therefore, we need to be honest and frank even when we face with a friend’s mistakes. According to research conducted by the Korea Times more than eighty percent of people in all ages say that those who advise frankly and tell the truth are more faithful and believable friends. They also add that friends who only say good things are regarded to tell a lie because most people make a mistake and have some drawback. In this way, we can say that letting a friend make a mistake does not help to establish good friendship.
In conclusion, I strongly think that letting a friend just make a mistake is not better than taking action for a friend and true friendship.