Having best friends should be banned because it’s ‘exclusionary’ ?
Writing in US News, child and family psychologist Dr. Barbara Greenberg says “there is something dreadfully exclusionary” about the concept of a “best friend,” and notes some American and European schools already forbid kids from having them.
Greenberg realizes that many will scoff at the notion based on “real life” expectations (“perhaps there is some truth to that,” she says), but she is focused on the “bigger picture”– that is, the distress of rejection associated with having a close confidante.
“I am a huge fan of social inclusion,” Greenberg writes. “The phrase best friend is inherently exclusionary. Among children and even teens, best friends shift rapidly. These shifts lead to emotional distress and would be significantly less likely if our kids spoke of close or even good friends rather than best friends....