Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond

The phenomenon of friendship is universal and elemental. Friends, after all, are the family we choose. These bonds not just pleasant but essential. They affect our bodies, and our minds and humans need them to thrive across their lifetime. Friends matter at every age, but never more so than when we are young. The new science of friendship explains why.

Lydia Denworth, author of the book Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond, will join us to explain 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 will also address 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 will also provide 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.

This event is free to all and will be presented virtually. The link will be posted here when available to log in to this webinar from your computer, tablet or phone.

Sponsored by the Glenbard Parent Series (GPS).