Don't you see her, mom?

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A month ago, as a result of students coming across the word 'New Year's Resolution' in their reading text, I made them list their 2014 New Year's resolution. The fact that I am teaching creative kids has always made me prepared myself for surprises in their work, be their idea or their bombastic word usage. Though I was as always prepared to read, digest and analyse my students' wonderful work, the resolution task brought me shock in regard to the existence of a worrying resolution. It was:

Having an imaginary friend. 


I was in shocked particularly because I believed that kids with imaginary friends were suffering from emotional issues as a result of loneliness, lack of love and lack of attention. For heaven sake, why would a kid seek to have an imaginary friend if unlimited amount of love, affection and attention are given to them? I presumed imaginary friend as a cause for concern thus having a kid who wishes to have an imaginary friend  by the end of 2014 made me worry and the aftermath classroom dialogue made it worst.

Me: Why do you want to have an imaginary friend?
A: Because my sister and everybody has one.
Me: Everybody?
A: Yeah! Everybody.
Me: Class, do you have an imaginary friend?
*The whole class said yes*
Me: Can you share with me the names?
*The names were either pet names (Kitty, Bobby, etc) or their altered name (Loiuse became Loiusa)


Oldest children, only children and children who don't watch much television are somewhat more likely to have an imaginary friend.
(Taylor)

Honestly, the dialogue freaked me out! I never expected that I was teaching a group of kids who was suffering from Emotional Disturbance (ED). This urged to an insightful, effective and fast intervention as ED is one of several education disabilities which has an adverse impact on individual's education performance. As school is the place where learning is conducted, confidence is built and talent is unleashed, there is a profound need for school to also be a place where difficulty is aided. As a teacher who teaches in school, I started having a self-talk to aid the problem and it had led me to a number of solutions. They were:

  • the school should start hiring psychologists since the probable number of kids having an imaginary friend is relatively high;
  • as kids are in need of psychological help, a psychological camp should be conducted.


As the above ideas sounded freaking funny, vacuity and that I have no control over what can be done in the school, I resorted to the last, best and most frequently used solution which was to do a research on the topic of imaginary friend. 

Amazingly, it was a self-fulfilling task for my research results me to discover an absolute wonder!
Imaginary friend isn't a cause for concern unless children seem depressed or withdrawn, unwilling to socialize with peers their own age or if a child claims a friend is controlling her and making her do things she doesn't want to. Only in the situations, parents should seek psychological help.
(Taylor)

The information gathered from my readings suggests me that I once got every fact wrong about imaginary friends. The belief that imaginary friend is an SOS signal to parents and educators was absurd. Instead, researches and studies discover that kids who have successfully invented an imaginary friend:

  • develop better internalized thinking which helps kids to be better at cognitive thinking be in planning or problem solving;
  • feel more capable and confident as they believe that their imaginary friends (or their invisible tiger) always stick by their side;
  • provide themselves an outlet for creativity and imagination since having an imaginary friend allows them to play, create, and explore in a natural and healthy way;
  • are less shy and better at behavioural skills;
  • could identify their fears for having an imaginary friend gives them insight into what they are scared of and also their problems; and
  • are more emotionally developed.

Surprising yet interesting isn't it?

Around 7, kids convert chatter with their imaginary friends into private thought which in future, help them to handle complex thinking.
(The WSJ)

All in all, from research conducted, I can simply conclude that having an imaginary friend is good for kids. Hence, if your kids are having an imaginary friend as a companion,  besides just letting them to have fun with their imaginary friend, encourage them to be more imaginative as studies have revealed the positive impacts of imaginary friends on kids' development. 

 

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