Nov 8, 2011

Sibling Rivalry

The news about Ram Revilla’s death was very tragic, and double up because the prime suspects are his siblings. I cannot really imagine how an 18 and 22 year old youngsters can possibly do a heinous crime like this to their own brother. Sibling rivalry was told to be the root cause, I read more about this topic on Wikipedia. Sibling rivalry is a type of competition or animosity among children.  Siblings generally spend more time together during childhood than they do with parents. The sibling bond is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and people and experiences outside the family. Sibling rivalry often continues throughout childhood and can be very frustrating and stressful to parents. Fighting with siblings as a way to get parental attention may increase in adolescence. Sibling rivalry can continue into adulthood and sibling relationships can change dramatically over the years.

What are the main causes?
  • Unequal amounts of their parents’ attention, discipline, and responsiveness
  • Stress in the parents’ and children’s lives can create more conflict and increase sibling rivalry
  • Children fight more in families where there is no understanding that fighting is not an acceptable way to resolve conflicts, and no alternative ways of handling such conflicts
How to Prevent it?

  • Refusing to compare or typecast their children
  • Planning fun family activities together
  • Making sure each child has enough time and space of their own
  • Give each child individual attention, encourage teamwork, refuse to hold up one child as a role model for the others
  • Avoid FAVORITISM
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