In a large family, you will always find brothers and sisters carrying each other. While the eldest takes the dress of the chief and the youngest, darling of the family, tries to charm everyone, the second of the siblings meanwhile, will try to find his place, somehow. According to a study, relayed by abc7News, the second brother is "the child with problems" and will be more likely to rebel.
Joseph Doyle, economist and professor in the Sloan School of Management, believes in a study that the second of the siblings would be more of a source of concern for parents than other siblings; he will thus tend to have behavior problems, trouble in school and will be tempted even to commit crimes. For example, the study conducted with several families in Florida and Denmark, states that the second child would have 20 to 40% risk of having problems with the justice.
In addition, the study examined the context of the child's health status. However, it has been found that there is no evidence that these children are born with poor health but may have lower disability rates during childhood.
What are the reasons for this problematic behavior?
According to the research, parents' attention to children could play an important role in the development of the personality of each of them. Also, the eldest grows up in an adult environment and enjoys all the parental attention. However, the youngest, often growing up in the shadow of his big brother (or sister) who is considered the strongest and the most competent; as a result, it does not require the same attention of parents as the eldest. As for the youngest, who has reached the last row, he always manifests the need to please.
Thus, according to Doyle, the second of the siblings still feels competition with the elder and will obviously try to attract the attention of parents by rebellious behavior.
This being said, we can not consider this phenomenon as a generality. However, these studies, even if they are credible, must be qualified by the fact that they also concern the other children who would follow and not only the second of the siblings.
It would be more a question of a personality different from each of the brothers and sisters
In the same context, Marion Balla, an educator and therapist in Ottawa, believes that the birth order can influence the child's personality. Thus, the eldest is more authoritarian and more protective, while the second remains conciliatory even if it shows from time to time a rebellious spirit but only trying to opt for a career totally different from his other brothers and sisters. He will always compete with his siblings to make his place and restore his image.
The role of parents in the education of children
According to the diagnosis of the psychoanalyst, Claude Halmos, a child, whether he is the eldest, the youngest or the youngest, needs a continuous presence of parents in his daily life, from an early age. The attention marked by love, the education based on the principles of life and the refusal to consent to all his whims, all these manifestations will make him the child of tomorrow.
The role of the parents is therefore to impose limits, to explain why and to teach the child respect for self and others. For a toddler, his parents are his own models and he will reproduce the same behavior later.
Thus, the way his parents treat him, the way they behave with others, will shape him forever. Not to mention that the absence of the father in the family plays an important role in the emotional balance of the child, since the father represents authority and security.
