This week, the children of Boston will arrive at school for the first time since summer vacation, bracing themselves for a monumental decision: where to sit during lunch. As they stand in the cafeteria, clutching their trays and trying not to look too concerned, they will wonder who their friends will be this year, and what they’ll need to do to find them in the crowd.
Each September, these moments unfold across America, as the nation’s young people undertake the exciting, stressful process of picking allies and identifying kindred spirits. It’s a process we remember vividly into adulthood, in part because the companions we choose as children—and those who choose us—often end up having a permanent impact on our lives. But looking back, most of us are faced with an enigma when we ask why exactly we ended up with the friends we did.
Comments
This article is more than relevant to those of us attending Lasell this fall. We will be thrust into a new enviorement in which we do not know the majority of our peers. As with the children described in this article we will all be going through a mental check list of criteria with each new person we meet and consider being friends with. What really struck me in the article was that "though girls put more effort into their friendships...boys were... no less satisfied as a whole". This one sentence seems to sum up all of my observations through out highschool, namely that girls must work very hard to make and maintain a friendship where as boys typically get along well with eachother if they simply have a similar sense of humor. I would love for a researcher to further explore the gender differences when it comes to making friendships.
People...people who need people...are the luckiest people in the world.