Does imaginary friends have a negative impact on how a child socialises or interacts with other children?
396640
No.  children grow out of it.
1011633
this is not odd at all, many kids have experienced this and lately even many more.\n\nit's obvious to me that the little girl you describe is an INDIGO CHILD.\nhttp://www.theindigoevolution.com/index.html\n\nor even a CRYSTAL CHILD\nhttp://www.thecrystalchildren.com/crystal.html\n\nthese children can talk to angels or to their kind spirit guides \n\nwhich in both cases is great! means the little girl is very evolved and helpful to the planet. there are many now.\n\ntell the mother not to feed this situation with fear and narrowmindess but to look into the terms indigo, or crystal children.\n\nhope it helps!\n\n----------------\n\n"Most children have the ability to see beyond physical reality, especially in infancy. It all goes to conscious awareness on different level. \n\nIt's interesting to watch an infant's eyes as they follow something/somene in the room that is not physically seen by anyone else. Infants often laugh and respond to whatever they are seeing which may be the spirit of the person who guided their soul into physical reality and is familiar. \n\nYoung children often have imaginary play friends - especially when there is no one around to physically play with. These 'imaginary friends' actually communicate with the child. Generally the imaginary friend/friends are harmless and the interaction ends as they child's physical consciousness slows down and gradually creates a pattern of returning to the physical body and staying at a lower level of frequency in order to function/perform their daily tasks in 3D. The older you get - the more grounded you have to be. \n\nIf the young child - generally below the age of 5 - is having fun with the imaginary friend they are attracting - then things are positive. If the child is apprenhensive or displays fear - professional help may be needed for the child. "
1024310
It's defnitely taught.  I've worked in preschools, and I can tell you for certain that kids ages three and four do not know racism.  They are all friends with whoever seems fun to be friends with.  They are naturally curious about their differences, and that used to produce some very funny situations, but they are not judgmental or racist, and it does not affect their desire to be friends with someone.\n\nLater, some kids learn to hate, to find safety in what they know and to fear what they do not, and to use derogatory words to put down people who are not like them.  Racists are frightened, ignorant fools who have sadly taken on the behavior of those they've been influenced by.
945886
For young to integrate and socialize with the group.
248566
Well, when I saw this question I immediately thought of DR. Spock.  I found an article that might be helpful for you, it is entitled "Little scientists: How young Children Think"\nis about cognitive development, several ideas.\n\nThis does not really answer your question, but it should give you an answer.\n\nhttp://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,3899,00.html\n\nHope this helps,
1042866
Joe, that was sort of the basis for my question about anyone having a "real" friend.  Seems the older we get, our "friend" connections come mostly from work or socializing with our children's friends parents or work.  It used to be that all your neighbors were your friends and you kept in touch with people for long amounts of time.  Not anymore.  Its a throw away society and I think that has spilled over onto personal relationships as well.  I have been housebound for several years now due to a slight handicap and have lost all my "friends" (most acquaintances from work).  It really is hard.  Hope that helps.  Barb
1105486
this might sound silly,but i sware its true. when i was younger, my elder sister used to have an imaginary friend, i had one too, as this was normal for kids. but it was wiered coz she used to say don't leave the wordrobe door open at night,because thats where she comes from. she grow out of this and one night she'd left it open and my mum and dad were in ther room, a girl walked into their room and past the bed,they thought it was my sister untill she walked out the wall! they ran into my sisters room and she was fast asleep,mum woke her and she said 'did you see her?' we decided to get a priest in to bless the house,it was awfull! a table fell on him, he fell down the stares and the light fell on him,it was like she was trying to stop him from making her leave!!! fingers crossed we havn't seen her since. although my sister now 21years old is still slightly disterbed by it!!!
967713
All the answers so far are pretty gloomy but there is a grain of truth in them. For if a child psycholgist became an adult losing all contacts with childhood he will soon go out of practice.This he can hardly affford to do.It is professionally necessary for him to be in tune with the psychology of children. This can be done only if he remains in tune with children. Outwardly it may appear that the adult psychologist is indulging in child-like fancies.Unless he does or feigns to do he cannot obtain the confidence of the child patients. They would withdraw into themseles and just clamp us.Three obstinacies are beyond correction-child,woman and king. The kings are no more leaving only two in the field of which    child obstinaccy is a hard nut to crack except with a toy hammer. Unless the child psychologist keeps his knowledge of handling it throughout he may even strike his head and yet the child would not open up.So thank god and pray to him(if you are abeliever) that the child psychologist should continue to remain a child throughout his life Let the  dwarf remain a midget  throughout.. Then and then only he can talk in prattle with children which is the only language they understand, draw out their fears and remove them.
868040
Thats horrible, kids need social interaction and all but that is a looooong day for a 5 year old. Plus part of being a kid is just being left to your own imagination and inventing games yourself.Being stuck in a structured school classroom for 8 hours is horrible for young kids.
282218
No. While cartoons and ads can be stimulating to a child with ADD, it's mostly chemically based according to most theories. What your getting at is over-stimulation, which is why some kids get overly aggressive or attached to video games. Most ADD kids are addicted to sensori-motor stimulation and so their "off the wall" behavior is really looking to do something to stimulate them, hence why these kids are easily "bored".\n\nBasically people try and blame ADD on everything from Sugar to Cartoons, to the Devil with NO evidence to back it up.
579852
Imagination never goes too far from reality?\n\nAnyway, this i is not any product of imagination, but one very closely related to an element of reality (in this case, -1).\n\nAnd last time I checked, they were calling it complex, not imaginary?...\n\nHey, don't mind me, keep dreaming! It can be more important than sticking to some reality.
689474
No -- a gifted child might have exceptional intellect, but they still need to socialize and interact with kids of all developmental stages.  Just because a kid is smart doesn't mean they should only play with other super smart kids.  Plus, any sort of segregation really never benefits anyone.
829071
My dad came up with a great idea that all kids imaginary friends are really actually ghosts or similar spirits and that as they grew up, they lost the ability to see them and thus dismissed them as 'imaginary friends'.  But a babysitter would somehow realize the truth and have to deal with it.\n\nI doubt he'll ever write it, so that's why I'm telling you- but seriously, why not come up with your own original idea?
366170
Like any intolerant one!! Try to open your mind... if children like it let them play... it isn't harmful at all... but well just remember nobody likes some one who says "when I was a child we used to..."
212667
It is possible but it might be harder because when you have a child, everything changes, your lifestyles and your thoughts about everything. Therefore, you might act different towards your friends. That's life. No relationship can remain the same forever. You can be friends forever, but you will feel different about each other. Personality changes as you get older, whether you are an adult or a child. If you want to remain friendship and is scared of losing your friends after you have a baby, try to invite you friends over to visit and keep the chains of communication open towards each other like before. You might not have too much time to go out with them like before, but all of you can still keep the good friendship.
522271
You don't have any details on it, but my answer is if you're comfortable with having no "real" friends.  If you're talking about online friends, it's not bad to have them.  If they're your only friends, don't trust they'll fly 3000 miles to help you out.  If you're talking about you being nice and cordial to everybody, that's a good thing.  If you want "real" friends, just talk more to those people you're friendly with.  They'll open up more easily as they know you as a friendly person.\n\nBut no matter how unfriendly or friendly you are, you'll meet one friend once in your life.
226245
nope i have lots of imaginary frends and im 14 too!i also talk to myself when im alone