This is the last entry you can comment on for the first half of November.
Some surprising findings here. Of course, the methods used aren’t revealed and therefore may be contested, but what do you think about the reasons given? Are there any factors which this article or study seem to be ignoring? Why are single-child families on the rise (46% in Britain)? The same study also found that minorities in the UK are happier than whites. Why do you think this might be the case? (You might want to do a bit of research on this finding if you want to address it.)
Some surprising findings here. Of course, the methods used aren’t revealed and therefore may be contested, but what do you think about the reasons given? Are there any factors which this article or study seem to be ignoring? Why are single-child families on the rise (46% in Britain)? The same study also found that minorities in the UK are happier than whites. Why do you think this might be the case? (You might want to do a bit of research on this finding if you want to address it.)
My personal opinion about only children being happier than children with siblings is that it cannot be justified. I think it depends on the character of the child itself. If an only child is very sociable and communicative, then there is no problem to find friends with which to spend time when there is no sibling. Being an only child also has more advantages, children don’t have to share their possessions, their room or privacy. However, it is often said that children like this are spoilt because they get all of the attention of the parents and they are often big-headed, so this could be a negative impact of being an only child. In addition, if the child is not very sociable, he/she might feel alone and very unhappy.
ReplyDeleteI come from a family of three children and I am happy to say that I have my brother and sister, who actually are twins. I can admit that in our family the well-known “sibling’s rivalry” holds its place and many times we got into such argues that we hit each other or used very bad words, but I think this ought to belong to living with siblings. I don’t think I can call our “sibling’s rivalry” by the word bullying, I find it exaggerated so that the results of the research then seem more believable. Perhaps in some families one of the siblings bully the other one, but personally I don’t believe this happens in a large number of families as most of the parents take care of this. I also think that living with a sibling helps to develop our communication skills, certainly we can better understand the way the others live and how to get on with them and this can be very helpful in future partnership, where compromises are essential to make.
The last thing I would like to address is the fact that UK is becoming “a nation of one-child families”. In the article it is written in a way like if the parents thought this would be better for their kids. I think this might also be due to tight budget in particular family or the mother simply does not comply with motherhood very well. There is number of other reasons, too.
First of all, I would like to express my own opinion about this matter. I have two younger siblings, one brother and one sister. I really love them and enjoy spending time with them. Of course, we have a lot disputes but we love each other and we will be there for each other when it matters. On the other hand, I cannot compare having siblings with being a single child because I don’t know what it is like to be a single child. But I would like to analyze some reasons why are single child families on rise in UK.
ReplyDeleteFirst and probably the most important reason why couples choose to have just one child is finance. It takes a lot of money to raise a kid, especially if you’re living in larger cities like London or Birmingham. Apartments are really expensive in these cities and more kids you have, larger apartment you need. Furthermore, education is not really cheap if you’re considering private schools. Of course, you can go to a public school but if you want quality education you’d rather pay. And you will pay a lot. But if you are fortunate enough your child might go to a university. If your child is a great student he or she might get a scholarship or some other form of financial aid. But even if he or she obtains a scholarship you are still expected to contribute with a huge amount of money. Shelter and education are only a fraction of what you’ll spend on your child. Therefore, it is understandable that some couples choose to have one child because of lack of finance.
Second reason I’d like to discuss occurs in families that are financially stable and are able to afford more than one child. But the reason they don’t have more children lies in the mother. A lot of women are chasing their dreams in this modern world. It’s not like in the past where women took care of children and men were bringing money. Nowadays, a lot of women have higher career goals than their male counterparts. And if they want to reach them, they have to make some sacrifices. Thus, some women choose to have only one child or even no children at all. This leads to the fact that some countries, Slovakia among others, face a decline in the number of population.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the number of children couples choose to have is their own decision and we should respect them. It’s better to have one child and love him than to have four kids and not care about them at all.
This article seemed quite far fetched to me, because it listed an awful amount of disadvantages that affect an only child as well as children with siblings, but what they didn’t take into account is the child’s own personality. As an only child myself, I can state that I had no difficulties whatsoever in socializing. Quite the opposite in fact. I enjoy the company of others and I’m an outgoing individual. If this doesn’t persuade you, then I can add that I personally know a lot of peple who don’t have any siblings and most of them are no different from me. I say most of them, because there are some that are different, more shy and keeping to themselves. But that’s normal, everybody’s different in one way or another and we can’t accredit this to them being an only child.
ReplyDeleteIn this article, I believe, it was specifically stated that children with siblings seem to socialize more than children with no siblings. I don’t think this is true as I’ve said it has nothing to do with siblings. As for the pampering of the children, I must agree that an only child, when the family has enough money, is quite often given too much attention, but it doesn’t necessarily have to end with the child being a spoiled brat.
All in all I think we cannot exactly say if the children are happier with or without siblings. It can’t be carried out by some random study, because every child’s personality is different. But there are things that we know for sure. For example that there are times, when an only child wishes to have siblings, and a child with siblings wishes they would dissapear. An only child sometimes feels lonely, has no one at home to talk to and when grown up, has no one who would offer the kind of support that only a sibling can. On the contrary a child with siblings has usually a lot of fun (again depends on the personalities of the child and the siblings) when young and can rely on them in the future. But there are disadvantages such as bullying (although I wouldn‘t call it bullying , more like pushing around in attempt to have fun) and rivalry for parental attention. In some cases these are not prevalent and everything is fine, but sometimes when the siblings are not so keen on each other it can grow into something more serious, even hatred.
Mária Dudáková
I think the happiness could not be measured by the number of siblings. You can make some statistics that show that single-children are happier but it is too wide to put all happy human beings into a box labeled “single-children”. I am pointing out that whether you are happy or not depends more on the personality and the upbringing of you and your siblings, than on the number of your siblings. For example, an older brother could be used as training for your parents so they might treat you better than they had treated him when he was at your age. On the other hand, older brother can bully you.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I have a sister. I am happy. I do not think I would be happier without my sister. Maybe it is just an individual case, but I think there are more people who think they could not be happier without their siblings. On the contrary, I know lots of very happy people with no siblings.
Maybe the happiness depends more on social status of your family. It is well known that rich families have fewer children than the families from poor background. Does it mean that rich people are happier than the poor ones? It should be true, according to this article, but I think that money would not make you happier if you do not have somebody to spend it with. And your brother or sister could be the one who makes you happy.
Tomas Langer
Responding to Maria
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion about this article. I think it is true that the socializing of the children does not depend only on the number of their siblings. It depends more on the personality of the children. You are a good example. As far as I know, you are the only child and it seems to me that you do not have any problems with socializing.
On the other hand, I have to disagree with you. You said that we know for sure, that a child with siblings wishes they would disappear. I live with my sister 11 years and I have never wished she would disappear. Not even ever. Well, maybe I sometimes got upset but never wished she would disappear.
Tomas Langer