Sibling rivalry

I have one child who is in the advanced classes. His younger brother is a good student also, but has to work harder to get his grades up.

How do you deal with the sibling rivalry?

My younger son thinks that he should be getting straight A's like my older one does. I keep telling him that as long as he is doing his best I am proud of him.

Moving one child to a different school usually takes the edge off these sorts of conflicts.

If their are getting along well with each other, but the younger son's self image is suffering, it may be time to stop allowing him information about his brother's grades.

Originally Posted by writersblock

My younger son thinks that he should be getting straight A's like my older one does. I keep telling him that as long as he is doing his best I am proud of him.

I don't think siblings should be in competition with each other. They should love each other and get along no matter what. Just tell him that a little more hard work never hurt anybody. That's what I tell my niece.

This same case had happened to me. We are three of our parents and we could not have healthy relation regarding study. We wanted to be first at home, more than at school.

I can't be bothered by such a problem. The really important thing is the family union and the brotherhood. Everything else is just overreacting.

Sibling rivalry can be quite a problem and many times the parents are responsible for it. My parents were always proud of my brother's achievement and talked about it constantly. He was good at everything and I was an average student. It always hurt me to be compared with him and our relationships soured because I always felt that my parents loved him more than me. As a result of it ,even today, I don't really bond with my family.

I would called them siblings pressure not rivalry. Even adults face them too. You always want to be better than someone you know especially you think that you are much better than them. This is what drive the world. I think it is a good thing. At least you don't have to pressure him to do his homeworks.

Originally Posted by j.chang

I don't think siblings should be in competition with each other. They should love each other and get along no matter what. Just tell him that a little more hard work never hurt anybody. That's what I tell my niece.

i think when it comes to career and academics, there should be competition between siblings as well. i always considered my competitor and tried to beat him in studies....and my elder brother always help me in that , and when i scored more marks in college then him...he was the one who was most happiest person

It's common every where that siblings generally tend to emulate their elder brother or sister. But, it should be seen as a healthy competition rather than as a rivalry. Healthy competition should always be encouraged. It need not be seen as siblings rivalry.

Smart Tutor

it actually boils down to the parents... avoiding comparison is one of the most effecting way to avoid sibling rivalry