The benefits of being raised with siblings
The family is one of the most important structures in the life of every person. In it is a great support difficult to find in other people. Not only do parents provide this help, brothers They also represent a great help in this regard. Not only because they are perfect playmates, growing up in your company has many other benefits.
This is shown by a study of Purdue University where the demographic data of the United States and other researches have been taken into account, where the level of satisfaction of the child and adolescent population has been analyzed. In this way, it was intended to link the presence of brothers in the lives of children with the greater or lesser degree of happiness in them.
Influence on development
What can a brother contribute to the development of children? The authors of this study emphasize that these close relatives are another element that has its influence in the development of children. Like parents, they also participate in development and education on a reciprocal basis. Not only the older ones influence the minors, vice versa there are also positive consequences.
While the Older brothers they represent a transmitting element of values in the smallest, the same that in their day they learned from their parents, the older ones also increase their level of responsibility. The older ones learn from this fraternal bond to assume the new role they have within the family, to take charge of the safety of the children.
On the other hand, taking into account that fraternal conflicts are inevitable, through the relationship between siblings provides a good lesson in terms of emotional understanding and learn to handle situations in a dialogue. In this way empathy will be enhanced by being able to put oneself in the other's shoes and act accordingly.
Improve sibling relationship
Given the importance of the relationship between siblings, one might ask, what can parents do to improve it? Janis Keyser, a member of the Early Childhood Education Department at Cabrillo College, California, notes that a good first step is to make the higher as the caretaker of the little one. A work that starts from the pregnancy of the next child, at which time parents can make the biggest ones feel that they have a responsibility: to ensure that when the new member arrives home, they do not have any problems.
In this sense, he suggests'relax'a little the work of father. For example, when it comes to going out, it is the older brother who accompanies the child in their games without direct intervention from the parents, who will remain as caretakers. The goal is simple, to turn children into their perfect leisure companions so they can see how much they can enjoy together.
We must also remember that each child deserves your own space to develop as a person and this sometimes happens to form your own group of friends. It is not necessary to suppress that the older brother has fun with activities of the children of his age and that he can not do with the smallest of the house. We must take advantage of the moments that can happen together but without forcing them.
In the event of fraternal conflicts, parents can act as mediators. The objective in these cases will be to make them reach a agreement and that they solve their problems so that the good climate returns to the house. Parents should try not to opt for any of them, unless clearly one has made a mistake as hitting the other.
Damián Montero
