The End of The Best Friend

[TheBigJadowski]

I totally agree with the camps premise, in order for Little Timmy not to get burned, don't let him near any fire at all! And this totally works in other applications like, sexual relationships.

Girl: Hey, I've been going out with you for 3 years, I love you dearly, and you've been completely faithful but recently I read this book about not getting attached to another person, so that I do not get hurt or devastated when things go bad. That being said, I've slept with and met 30 men in the last 2 weeks. So I don't wanna be exclusive to you anymore
Guy: I totally understand babe!

Oh wait... That'd never happen.

It isn't a good idea, no matter how you put it. This is such bullshit. Just let kids be kids. Don't want your kids falling off bikes while learning to ride them? TAKE THE BIKE AWAY! So we punish kids and take away their freedom because the parents and camp counselors can't delegate correctly? I think we are starting to Devolve.

 

[AgDr_ODST]

this article must be a bad joke because I politely chortled before asking if it was for real. I mean best friends come and go and I myself have gone through more than a few in my life. A few of who them I lost including my first BFF due to my family moving. And more than a few than I've neither seen nor heard from since I moved back my hometown. I lost one BFF because in a short time we both had changed and something happened that I don't care to share on the net. Now look at me I've got a shitload of BFF's some of them I only see at church, three that I only hangout with on occasion(but when we do hang we often have a blast and a half) and 4 Best Friends that I haven't meet yet (face to face that is), three of those four are people on my Xbox Live friends list. And the 4th I meet while approving and denying words as an editor on Urban Dictionary. so in summary I've had my highs and lows as far as BFF's go but I dare anyone to try to say to me that my life sucks right now after having read my story

Spoiler: a rant about the article

that article is the bigggest, dumbest load of shit ever. this article and that damnable camp are basically discouraging kids from having one friend that they count as thier best and not letting them learn the things(good and bad but mostly good) that comes from having one. I aughta go up thier and burn it down to the damn ground. I mean honestly what will they do next, put thier kids in everything proof bubbles so that no kid learns anything so that the potential bad that can come from anything and everything is never discovered. WTF!!!!

 

[TheIr0nMike]

I can get where they're coming from. Encouraging kids to be friendly with everyone rather than just having one true friend could have kids be more accepting of everyone. If this does turn out to be successful, it could help with various social problems such as racism, sexism, xenophobia, and could help decrease any form of conflict.

 

[Dags90]

I've heard that children with close siblings tend to be more socially insular, and have trouble making new friends. I'm not sure it completely applies to best friends, but it's not as if this is completely ungrounded. Everyone seems to be cursing the premise as if it's completely absurd and there's no way for it to be possible. I think their intentions are a bit off, though.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

I'd rather have 1 best friend than have 100 "aquaintances". Seriously if you are only "sort of" friends with a lot of people, who are you to confide in when shit gets serious? Who can you tell your deepest secrets to without risk of them being revealed to everyone else? Who can you feel so at ease with you can completely be yourself around without worrying about what others think? Who can you depend on it matters of crisis'?

Answer; Fucking nobody.

But apparantly some dickheads in America think otherwise. Doesn't surprise me, America likes to wrap all its childeren in cotton wool and blindfold them to the world for as long as possible, then wonders why they all turn out socially mal-adjusted.

EDIT; Oh and I just saw this from the article;

In a survey of nearly 3,000 Americans ages 8 to 24 conducted last year by Harris Interactive, 94 percent said they had at least one close friend.

Gee, I wonder why that would be? Why young humans naturally form close attachments with 1-2 people, as apposed to 10-15?? Maybe it's because of, oh I duno, HUMAN NATURE???!!! You know, that thing that's served us pretty well for about a million years? Yeah, leave it be, don't fuck with it.

 

[DkLnBr]

this is so stupid that i cant begin to describe it ... everyone needs a best friend.
I could understand if say, this was to help build more friendships and learn how to socialize, but getting rid of best friends? If you have an embarrassing problem, and you need someone to talk about it and hopefully solve it, you cant go to anyone if you only have a large group of acquaintances/decent friends. But the level of trust and understanding between best of friends would able you to talk about almost anything. Plus, ironically, With only a large group of acquaintances/decent friends you'll most likely feel isolated and alone when all you have are just faces you recognize. Kids are getting so sheltered that is nowadays its pathetic. All you're doing is ensuring that they will get chewed up and stepped on. What Next? mandatory helmets and padding?
I could rant some more but i dont want to, so "end rant"

 

[FinalHeart95]

So they'd rather have kids have a lot of friends that they share little bonds with than a few friends that they are really close with and can trust with almost anything? People need those close bonds, and once they become teens, those bonds will most certainly not be with family. Besides, if something does go awry, the two will still try to reconcile if they truly are "best friends". If they don't, then chances are the whole thing was a farce.

 

[googleit6]

This is ridiculous. A best friend is like a part of your family without actually being a part of your family, which can often come into handy in sticky situations.

 

[Frequen-Z]

I used to have best friends. I've grown away from everyone and I am much happier for it. I have not one real life friend right now and I wouldn't change it for the world. I don't need people, they don't need me, everyone is a winner.

 

[Marter]

I have one really good friend in real life, and a couple online. I don't see anything wrong with having them.

 

[Klarinette]

I don't think I exist to my best friend anymore. Kind of breaks my heart to know how little he cares.

Is he your best friend (i.e: most favoured out of all of them)? Or is he an ex best friend? Either way though, yeah I know how you feel. Sucks aye =(

He doesn't deserve that title anymore. I didn't fucking do anything, and he's completely neglected and dodged me. I've heard all the bullshit excuses he's been giving, too (to someone else... yeah, a mutual friend was able to get a hold of him, and he decided to relay messages that way). ARGH.

 

[Kimarous]

 

[arsenicCatnip]

Why do so many people, (mainly do-gooder, "we know better than you do," politically correct people,) think exclusivity, (or discrimination,) is solely a bad thing? I exclude bad people from being my friend. I exclude annoying people from being my friend. I exclude people who don't have any hobbies or interests in common with me. Some discrimination is bad. Some is good.
Boo-freakin'-hoo. Not everyone's going to get along.

This is another good point.

Any relationship that isn't based on common interests or personalities is just unhealthy and completely unlike ones in real life.

Right on. Opposites may attract, but unless these kids have something in common BESIDES the camp experience, the friendships are going to fall flat on their faces.

I have a best friend, who is also my roommate. And while she pisses me off sometimes (and I do the same to her), we know each other better than anyone else in the world. I would not be the person I am without her.

 

[the wako kid]

ive had several best fiends and have always hated groups and i tend to just walk away from them and sulk somewhere.one of my firstbest friends moved away havent talked to hi,m in ages. another of my best friends turned into a hhuge dick and i havent talked to him onpurpose in a couple years.I once had a friend who was such a good friend that we looked gay for eachother. we were finishing eachothers sentences and it looked gay as all hell even tho it was purely platonic,hung out smoked pot,played video games and had good times,and then it just stopped.my first best friend john will always be the best guy i kno(the kind of guy who can make you feel better when a girl dumps you).forcing kids to have wafer thin friendships will just make them socially detached.

 

[Cain_Zeros]

I couldn't even make it through the whole article. I got to the point where it tried to say that having a best friend is bad and decided "no, this is retarded". I royally fucked things up with my best friend (I won't go into how, but trust me, it makes perfect sense that I wouldn't be able to confide everything in her any more), and honestly, I have no fucking idea what to do about a lot of shit. It's not because she gave great advice, but because having that one person you can tell everything is actually really, really helpful. Saying that having that kind of bond is a bad thing, and potentially unhealthy is just stupid. If anything, not having it is unhealthy.

 

[Jackalb]

I've had a couple 'best friends' through-out the years but I always moved onto a different one when I changed path into being someone different. Eventually I gave up and just gave everyone an equal friend level.

 

[historybuff]

But if you only have a bunch of acquaintances, how can you really feel connected or something? The idea of this is silly--and I had a best friend who ended up being a horrible person. Everyone needs the experience of a best friend.

This idea that you can micromanage a child's social relationships is just silly. Overprotective parents need to get over themselves.

 

[Macgyvercas]

My first best friend transfered schools in 7th grade and we didn't talk much after that. However, we did recently reconnect (yay!). My other best friend is more along the lines of a sister than a friend. I talk to her about everything. (Yes, I'm a guy and my best friend is a girl. Blame where I went to high school. The ration of girls to guys was 5 to 1)