BE AN IMAGINARY FRIEND

by Abigail Ricker and Sashah Bosse

65! 65% of us have had one. What have we all had, you may ask? An imaginary friend! 65% of children have had an imaginary friend from the ages 3-10, but it’s not uncommon to have them later on in life. Originally it was thought trauma and loneliness were the cause of these made-up creatures. Later research by Margaree Taylor says that these interesting fragments of imagination are normally from creativity, not trauma or loneliness.

There are medical studies on where and how the brain conducts these so-called imaginary friends. The brain creates unimaginable things, and these friends are just one of those things. So what part of the brain do they come from? The occipital lobe/visual cortex process visual information; parietal lobe integrates sensory information; the right hemisphere controls creativity; the medial temporal lobe is where language is stored; and prefrontal cortex controls creativity, personality, and decision making.

We have interviewed a couple of people and have found many unique experiences. Vanessa Cardin, first year, had three imaginary friends growing up. Walmart, Fluffy, and Bobo helped Vanessa act through some of the toughest times of her life. These imaginary friends were created because of trauma, the split up of her parents when she was three. Walmart only lasted a week. “My grandmother ran him over!” Vanessa told us. Fluffy lasted two years. “Fluffy fell down the stairs!” Bobo went through it all, lasting for three years. “I think my dad killed him!” For many kids, the imaginary friend dies because they are moving on. “I felt as though they died because I didn’t need them or I was getting over them,” Vanessa explained.

Sometimes kids use imaginary friends to get out of trouble. Mr. Rego, a proctor and teacher here at PCC, used his imaginary friend to get out of trouble. His lasted about a year, but he didn’t really have an emotional connection to it. Mr. Rego says, “I only had him to get out of things I didn’t want to get in trouble for.”

One of the reasons we are writing this article is because of Bobretta, Abby’s imaginary friend. Bobretta is a crazy thiccken (a thiccken is a thick chicken.) Bobretta has crazy eyes, stuck up hairs, very small feet, and is very fat with a triangle geek with a line through it.

The imaginary friends impacted the people who have had them then in a positive way. Always remember the 65% !Love is real!