oldest and youngest

Many advantages and disadvantages come from being the oldest child in the family, but most say there are more disadvantages. From asking classmates and friends, the first reaction is that it is harder to live as the first child than as the third. Some of the less heard reasons are “you’ll die first!” and “you get my old iPod while I get the new one!” but here are the more common ones.

There are a couple of advantages to being older, but usually these reasons are not applicable to children. Older siblings tend to be more responsible in their later years, as well as being very book-smart. In the later years, they are likely to be independent and self-sufficient. They never get hand-me-downs from others and they are the first to drive, move-out, and pay taxes! They are more inclined to be independent during their adulthood compared to their younger counterparts.

As well as advantages, there are also disadvantages to being older. The most common is that the older children are parents’ “guinea pigs” and the parents use experiences with the first child to parent the younger ones. The new methods of parenting are tested upon them, and as a result the younger child gets a “better” parent. Blame is often placed on the elder ones for not being a role model, and more pressure and expectations are placed upon them to succeed. They have to fight and reason to get something they want, but their eight year old little sister gets a cell-phone because she felt like having one. If you are younger you can always ask for help, but if you are the oldest, whom do you turn to?

Being older among others has many pros and cons. As an older child, I would say that it is harder to be older than younger, but a younger child may disagree completely. They may say that they never get the good tech that their older brother has, but I can promise they will get those items in the future. In my opinion, the best way to go is to have