The list of middle class child-rearing anxieties grows ever more baroque:
Most children naturally seek close friends. 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. But the classic best-friend bond — the two special pals who share secrets and exploits, who gravitate to each other on the playground and who head out the door together every day after school — signals potential trouble for school officials intent on discouraging anything that hints of exclusivity, in part because of concerns about cliques and bullying.
Also: “In recent years Timber Lake Camp, a co-ed sleep-away camp in Phoenicia, N.Y., has started employing ‘friendship coaches’ to work with campers to help every child become friends with everyone else.”