A growing number of people want to see the term banned in schools (Picture: Getty)

Say goodbye to your best friends, the term is not allowed in some places any more because it lacks inclusivity.

A psychologist in the US said that a growing number of schools are banning children from using the term ‘best friend’ over fears some children are being left out.

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Prince George’s school, Thomas’s private day school in Battersea, announced in 2013 that it was encouraging children to have ‘lots of good friends’.

Dr Barbara Greenberg told CBS New York: ‘There has been a movement in some American schools and European schools to ban the phrase “best friend”. The idea of banning the phrase “best friends is a very intriguing social experiment.




‘I see kids come in all week long who are feeling dreadful because they are excluded and because they are either nobody’s best friend or their best friend has moved on.’

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She concedes that it is impossible to allow children to have a close relationship, but adds that schools want children to have more than just one friend.

Headteacher of Prince George’s school Ben Thomas said at the time: ‘You can get very possessive friendships, and it is much easier if they share friendships and have a wide range of good friends rather than obsessing too much about who their best friend is.

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‘I would certainly endorse a policy which says we should have lots of good friends, not a best friend.’

Only last month, parenting expert Liz Fraser appeared on Good Morning Britain and reinforced the idea.

She said: ‘It immediately [separates] this friend out as being different from all other friends, which immediately sets you into a mini group.

‘Some children don’t have a best friend, I didn’t have a best friend, if I did have a best friend I think it’s because no one wanted to be friends with us.’