Does an only child’s lack of siblings help or hinder them while growing up?
Introduction: Many husbands and wives embark in conversations discussing how many children they wish to have with one another. Arguments vary from having one child, several children, to even none at all. Many cultures around the world have general belief’s, and in some cases even laws that regulate how many children a couple may have. The argument of how many children to have has been waged for centuries. The goal of this paper is to explore the research that has been done to assess the social, cognitive and familial benefits of having an only child. By the end of this paper readers should have a better idea of how growing up as an only child is very different than growing up with siblings. Throughout this paper we will explore the benefits and downfalls growing up as an only child, and how it may affect the child academically and socially. There will be time spent looking at several studies that searched for an answer to similar questions in the field. Having an understanding of how an only child operates is very important because it can be the difference between success and failure for that child. The biggest piece for parents in deciding how many children to have tends to come down to how much time, energy and ultimately attention they have to give their children. This idea describes the Resource Dilution Theory (Chen, 2015). The theory says that the more children a family has the less
They could feel pampered by their parents and even siblings. Because of this, the younger could “develop social skills that will get other people to do things for them, thus contributing to their image as charming and popular,” (Whitbourne ll 36,37). And lastly, an only child has their parents undivided attention, which could lead to feeling, “scrutinized and controlled,” (Whitbourne ll 42).
Each of the persons ,John Brown, Stephen Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln, with their own niche roles contributed greatly to the coming and the inevitability of the Civil War. Lincoln being chief among these people in respects to importance to the coming of the Civil War was a huge catalyst to the civil war through his election to presidency without the votes of a single southern state, and his debates with Stephen Douglas. Douglas was another large part of the fruition of the Civil War through his Compromise of 1850, and the Douglas-Lincoln debates which lead to Lincoln winning the election. John Brown while not contributing to the coming of the war as Lincoln or Douglas still played his role by becoming a martyr for the Republican-Abolitionist cause. Each person while contributing unique aspects to the onslaught that was the Civil War had one thing in common, they all progressed it 's coming heavily making the Civil War almost inevitable.
There is much debate on what constitutes as a family today. However, Ball (2002) states, “The concept of the traditional family…is not an immutable one. It is a social construct that varies from culture to culture and, over time, the definition changes within a culture” (pp. 68). There is a growing diversity of families today including the commonality of sole-parenting. In order to explore aspects of sole-parenthood objectively, I need to reflect and put aside my personal experience of growing up in sole-parent household. Furthermore, this essay will explore the historical origins, cultural aspects discussing the influences and implications of gender identity, and social structures of sole-parent families, as well as consider the
Socially and Emotionally the family is a big influence in a child’s development. Parents have a big role by providing care and guidance for their development. Unfortunately some families cannot promote the development of a child because of the conflict among the parents. A single parent can have difficulties in boosting a better development in children and young people, sometimes a child is separated from its siblings and this can affect them too.
Through many years, children growing up in single family homes has been discovered as problems. “At first glance, defending single mothers and their children. Raised by a strong and resourceful single mother, I turned out OK” (Wilcox). Being raised up with one parent seems to be stressful and impossible, but for decades its become possible to happen. In the society today, there are children growing up overcoming emotional stages and achieving their goals whether if they have both parents to show them difficult paths in their life that they will overcome as a growing human being. The problems that occurs within raising a child in a single family home compared to a married home can be different or the same depending on the disciplinary actions. There are many questions asked, does a child need both parent figures to be raised? Does a son need a father figure, does a daughter need a mother figure? Among all the questions asked, is there a person taking care the main responsible with much undertaking, on the single parenting topic it has become an interesting argument. People need to be more informed with raising a child. Raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family, it is more to how a parent is discipline and having a proper process of teaching their child with learning how to be mature and respectful. Children of a single home can be progressive with the same emotional, social able, and interactive behavioral skills that is raised with both parents.
Which behalf is the best side, the single parent versus the traditional family? A traditional family is defined or described as two parents working together to solve anything that goes on in their house. The advantage of a traditional family is that they are going to have a more stable income that will buy them a reasonable house or an apartment. “The traditional families have two parents, the mom and the dad, jointly raising kids with help and advice from each other” (Magnier). An accustomed family also expresses their feelings towards one another and has respect among others in their home. A dysfunctional family is usually described as conflicted adults living on their own. Although a dysfunctional family may sound inadequate, it is
All across the globe, there are children growing up in single-parent households, and through some research
Thesis: To understand that there are many parents raising their children alone with no help at all. Many single parents have different circumstances that cause them to raise their children by themselves. Being a single parent is not easy there are good days and bad days and most single parents must make it through no matter what. Many single parents do not realize that their children are looking at them for the rest of their lives.
Throughout history a one-parent household has been deemed as a nontraditional family, but in today’s society it seems more and more common with every day. Although the reason and causes vary, each year the number of children raised by a single parent increases. Most people don’t seem to realize how much this can change a child’s future. The impact of childhood experiences simply set the disposition of adulthood and the rest of their lives. There is not one sole factor that affects child development, but one very important one is the role and relationship created with one’s parents. How a child is parented and raised leaves a lasting impression on them, commonly for a
For as long as human families have existed, the core family group of a father, mother, and the children has been the ideal composition in what could be considered a balanced and fulfilling functional family. There had been many studies of the effects of having certain members of these groups on the family household present and absent. While there are many hypothesis of the effects of the children in the family in household with a missing parent, most of them are indeed negative and there had been studies that these can vary in many different aspects of a child’s upbringing. These effects will be discussed and functionality of the household family itself will be discussed to look at the issues
There is no doubt that both children and parents from single-parent families would more or less with some emotional, personality and interpersonal problems. This reflective paper that not aim to go further to explore the above symptoms and related impacts in their life or society. Instead, I would like to go further and modify what single-parents should aware and point out some ideas that what the families, school and our society could do, for the purpose of
Having both parents within the family constellation is a benefit to a child, but difficulties can arise if rolls are missed or impaired. If the child is pampered, he or she is left incapable of taking care of him or herself, and ultimately fail to become independent thus adding to the deprivation of the family. This derives from a sense of entitlement where in the boy’s case, he grows to get married, and seek for this wife to take care of him the same way is mother did. The girl, who is typically pampered by the father, will expect to get everything from her husband.
For the first five years of my childhood, I was raised in a single parent home. My mother would have to work harder to provide anything that was needed for me and my other siblings. But that changed when my father came back into our lives when I turned six. From that point on our family structure took a drastic change for the better. My mother didn't have to work as long as before, so we were able to see her more often. Having two parents at home caused the quality of our lives become better than it was before when only one parent supported us. For many households, however the reality is that only one parent during their upbringing. This does have a rather big effort on them in the life of the child and the parent who is raising the child. A single parent household harms the parent and the child.
as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father. Does a child need both parents? Does a young boy need a father figure around? Does the government provide help for single parents? What role do step-parents and step-siblings play? With much speculation, this topic has become a very intriguing argument. What people must understand is that properly raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family but should be more focused on the process or values that are taught to these children as they learn to mature. Children of single parents can be just as progressive with emotional, social and behavioral skills as those with two parents.
It is commonly believed that for normal development a child needs two opposite sex parents. Mother provides nurturance and caretaking and father ‘‘is the grinding stone on which his son sharpens his emerging masculinity and the appreciative audience to which his daughter plays out her femininity (Pruett, 2000, p. 87).” Not all the children are raised in two parent family, single parent is a common part of our society. Single mothers and less common single farthers raise their children and nobody doubts there parenting skills, because not only their parent but also other relatives and media influence on children.