Children who can not easily understand the words. The mood changes from moment to moment, and it also causes a meaningless debate in the room. He also speaks to the chair and high-fives with nothing in the air. In fact all of this is a special friend of the children, 'Imaginary friends'.
An imaginary friend
To define an imaginary friend, it can be seen as a psychological or social event in which friendship or interpersonal relationship exists in the imagination rather than reality. It is also referred to as a virtual friend or an invisible friend. Children interpret all these things as if they are real, but in fact, as part of their imagination, personalizing things around them makes them friends of the imagination. Dolls, toy figures, even cars can be friends with them. It also includes the heroes who appear in fantasies such as angels, ghosts, and monsters.
This imaginary friend of a child is a behavior that is commonly seen in everyday life, and has a good influence on emotion.
The Benefits of Imaginary Friends
According to a study published in 2004, many children actually have these imaginary friends. At that time, researchers at the University of Oregon and the University of Washington found that 65 percent of children up to age seven had imaginary friends at some point. And children with these fictional friends generally belonged to older siblings or older subjects.
A study led by Beth L. Pearson of US Case Western Reserve University showed that this virtual play has a positive psychological impact. Here are a few.
- The creativity of virtual play allows children to be artistic and creative. Especially, I express myself very well with them in my own world armed with imagination.
- Responsibility and difficulty can be overcome well. This is because imaginary friends help children to deal with these difficulties through expressing problems and grief.
- Emotional regulation is the most important part of everyone. The same is true of children. Virtual play can develop this ability better because it expresses and exerts many different kinds of emotions. It also negotiates rules as well as resizing other emotions with imaginary friends.
- Empathy is the ability to share or understand someone's mind, and children build their abilities by playing different characters through virtual play. This kind of character play can also help you learn how to help others, how to apologize, how to forgive.
- For children, the word hope is the most important motivational tool. When you believe in yourself, you become motivated and have better self-confidence and self-esteem.
Concerns
Of course there are points of concern. Having an imaginary friend is part of a very normal child's development, but if the cause is from a negative thought or feeling. Parents can understand children in this case and respond appropriately.
When children are lonely and boring, they make friends of their own. Parents should also enter the imaginary world and give more affection to their children.
- When something has to adapt to change, such as having a new sibling or moving to a new home, children make up an imaginary friend and interact.
- When children feel confused or sad, their imaginary friend acts as a comforting companion. It is important that you never leave yourself alone if your child seems depressed. A child needs someone to understand stress and feelings and embrace it.
- When you start school, these imaginary friends usually disappear. However, if your child still has a virtual friend in Year 1 or Year 2, check to see if the child has socialization problems.
