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Expert Q & A

Top : General : How much make believe is normal for a 12-year-old girl?

Preteenagers Today's Health Advisory Panel Answers:
How much make believe is normal for a 12-year-old girl?
By Chris Crutcher
Author
Licensed Child and Family Therapist
 		Chris Crutcher

Question:


I've stumbled above some notes my 12-year-old girl has written at school. She is quite a story teller! She makes up these very, very romantic and dramatic love stories she has with boys. I know for a fact this stuff is just her imagination. I'm not sure how normal this is. She loves to write in a journal as well, and she makes up some wild stuff. How much make believe is normal?

Answer:


As long as it's in a journal and you know it isn't being acted out, I'd leave it right there. A 12-year-old is going into puberty; some have already been there a while, and those fantasies are normal. It's a way of expression, and kids need privacy to do that. There is such a difference between expression and behavior, and being able to express something often lessons the impulse to act on it.

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