ARE there MORE advantages or disadvantages being THE YOUNGEST child in the famil

1. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 8 years ago

   ARE there MORE advantages or disadvantages being THE YOUNGEST child in the family? Why?
   
   Furthermore, how does FAMILY SIZE influence how the youngest child is treated in his/her family? Also, how does family size determine THE STATUS of the youngest child in comparison to his/her OLDEST sibling?
   
   

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2. 58

   Deandra Vposted 8 years ago

   Coming from the youngest child in the family (a girl among 4 boys), I've had more advantages. I'm sure having such strong relationships with my brothers has helped significantly in the long run, but I've gotten far in life because of it. Tutors were free and immediately available, I had immediate advice regarding anything from high school crushes to what classes to take to how to deal with depression productively. Sure, they were still stupid sometimes and frequently spent more days going to parties than attending college, but I used their mistakes to my advantage.
   
   Next to all that, I had consistent support. I know it's pretty stereotypical for the big sibling to hate the little one, but if nightmares came up or I was afraid of what I thought I heard or saw, they took care of it. I've slept in their beds due to fear, they've taken knives to their front doors when I was scared that police were outside and I thought something dangerous was happening. And maybe it was just that my dad wasn't the best guy, but they made up for the fact that I had a single mom and very few friends - even though they were getting into careers, getting married, having kids, or whatever.
   
   Other than that, it was purely an advantage to be younger because I got unnecessarily spoiled. Just for a birthday I received a laptop and new cell phone, supposedly because I was "a teenager with growing social circles".
   
   As for family size and it's influences, I do believe I had some advantage in having so many brothers around, even if they didn't all live with me at certain points. I mean, obviously, if one was too busy to cope with the ridiculous things I had in my head, another was bound to be doing nothing. My system went four different directions, which could be vastly different from someone who only has one, or even two. My status rose as well, and part of that may have been that they didn't all get along (they cope, though). Even if they hated each other at certain points, it seemed like they all had a very clear goal: protecting me, or being there for me. For some reason, I had a big significance in their lives, and it didn't fade as any of us grew up (do brothers usually get their sister's name tattooed on them? Because that happened here. Twice).

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3. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 8 years ago

   
   
   The youngest child is the most indulged by their parents.  After all, that child is the parents' LAST child.  Youngest children are oftentimes the most preferentially treated by their parents.  They can get away w/things that their oldest siblings were probably reprimanded, even punished for. 
   
   However, youngest children are the envy of their older siblings because the former can get away w/murder whereas they couldn't.  Many youngest children have the LEAST responsibilities in comparison to their older, especially the oldest sibling at similar ages.  Older siblings can resent youngest children because the former are oftentimes punished for what the latter does.
   
   Typically in small to medium families(2-4 children per household), youngest children are on an equal parity to older/oldest children.  They are treated the same in terms of parental time, attention, & are punished fairly depending upon the offense committed.  A younger brother of a famous celebrity indicated that as a teenager, his father dealt out the same punishment as he did his older sibling for being disrespectful. 
   
   However, in medium large to very large families(5-more children per household), there is a marked disparity in treatment in which oldest/older children being treated the most disparately while youngest children are oftentimes treated the most preferentially.  In such families, oldest/older children have very encumbered childhoods while youngest children never will have such responsibilities.  In medium large to very large families, oldest/older children are cast aside & given very little attention while youngest children get THE MOST parental time & attention.

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