The experts are moving in on a longstanding childhood tradition: the best friend. From the New York Times: “increasingly, some educators and other professionals who work with children are asking a question that might surprise their parents: Should a child really have a best friend?”
Why? For one thing, it sometimes makes the job of school principals more difficult.
Great. Rearranging childhood for the convenience of the adults.
Friendships are just the latest fact of life that, for children, have become more institutionalized: “The days when children roamed the neighborhood and played with whomever they wanted to until the streetlights came on disappeared long ago, replaced by the scheduled play date.” No doubt, horror stories of kidnappings, rare but terrible events, fueled by media hysteria, have played a role.
The Times also mentions one camp at which counselors actively break apart friends who seem to be spending too much time together. What a creepy bit of social engineering. Thankfully, some people, cited later in the article, still respect the value of friendships–and of experts butting out.