Glenbard Parent Series: 2021-12-12

Monday, December 13, 2021

Lydia Denworth speaks on The Extraordinary Power of Friendships- in the Real & Virtual World

On December 7, 2021 the Glenbard Parent Series hosted science journalist Lydia Denworth, the author of "Friendship: The Evolution, Biology and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental Bond."

Denworth explained how the social brain gets built, the importance of social and emotional learning for healthy development, and how building good friendship skills early in life sets children and adolescents up for a long, healthy, and happy life.

Denworth addressed whether friendships are changing in the age of social media, as well as the effects of the pandemic on young people’s social lives. She provided guidance for parents to help as life gets back to normal.

Lydia Denworth is a contributing editor for Scientific American and writes the Brain Waves blog for Psychology Today. Her work has also appeared in The Atlantic, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Spectrum, and many other publications. She is the author of three books of popular science; Toxic Truth, I Can Hear You Whisper and Friendship. Lydia, her husband, and three sons, split their time between Brooklyn and their sustainable farm in Central New York.

You may view the program at https://youtu.be/MuDp23MYge0

Former Glenbard East parent Lyle Bohnert shared the following takeaway:

"Denworth shared the science of why even one good friendship will help our children live longer and healthier -- it's about quality, not popularity. Friendships are critical to our ability to succeed and thrive lifelong. Parents need to model it, value it, and make time to teach friendship skills. Help them practice listening and being positive and reliable. Explain that changing friends at the start of middle/high school and college is normal. Helping them bond with others over similar interests or connecting over a keyboard with people may be a great place for them to build their confidence (check in to make sure they are safe). Understand that when teens are with other teens ‘peer presence’ risk taking can happen."