잉글리쉬쌤


제목	The Value of Childhood Crushes

작성자	잉글리쉬쌤	등록일	2019-02-14

Source: The New York Times, Bonnie J. Rough When my daughter was in preschool, she came home one day starry-eyed and breathless, gushing about a 4-year-old in her class. “I love him,” she swooned. “Sooo much.” Downplaying her theatrics, I tried changing the subject. She changed it back. I was baffled. That kind of love isn’t for children — is it? As classroom Valentine’s Day card exchanges give parents an opening to talk to kids about crushes, here is some expert insight into children’s early inklings of romance, and tips on how to respond. Do children really fall in love? Amanda Rose, a professor of psychology at the University of Missouri who focuses on friendships and peer relationships in childhood and adolescence, has researched romantic interests in children as young as third and fifth grade, half of whom report having a boyfriend or girlfriend — a percentage that goes down with age. The difference, she said, is that the younger children are less likely than adolescents to have reciprocal romances. An elementary school-age child might never be aware of being a classmate’s object of affection. “What we’re capturing with those younger kids is probably crushes,” Dr. Rose said. And although there’s little research about crushes for children younger than third grade, many adults recall infatuations at those young ages — and we see them in our children. Dr. Rose likens young kids’ crushes to other types of pretend play such as playing house or ambulance driver: It is a kind of practice. “In research on children’s social and cognitive development, those activities are discussed as very important in terms of trying out, at a very rudimentary level, adult roles,” she said. “I could see crushes as very similar.”