A new study has confirmed [that] the oldest kid in the family really does bear the brunt of parental strictness, while the younger brothers and sisters generally coast on through.
“The folklore is that parents punish the older child more than the younger ones,” says Lingxin Hao, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University and an author of the study … “But it isn’t just folklore — this is a national pattern.”
The study showed that older siblings were much less likely to drop out of school or, in the case of girls, get pregnant, than the youngest in the family, perhaps because they’ve had a lifetime of being held to higher standards. (Source: MSNBC)
The study also concluded that younger siblings “are more likely to take more risks” and “were especially more likely to drop out of school — and get financial support from their parents.”
Are you the oldest sibling in your family (or the youngest) and do you agree with the results of this study? If this study is accurate, how could parents actively attempt to prevent such treatment from occurring?
Photo courtesy of citizenit.
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