Sample Essay

Only Lonely (1/3)

Raising an only child or being an only child has become more and more common all over the world, particularly, in North America and Europe. But even Roman Catholic countries such as Italy and Brazil have diminished their average family size in the last ten years. Nevertheless thirty years ago the big problem was the population growth that would decimate the earth’s resources. Moreover there are no signs that the falling birth rate will reverse itself any time soon. (Newsweek, 2001) Therefore it is worth to consider whether it is beneficial to the child to have no siblings.

For some parents, raising an only is conscious choice. Some argue that they want to give the best to their child, for example, education and material goods. This would suggest that only children are better looked after. However these kinds of arguments are usually based on selfish demands as the parents do not want to give up their career. Besides having only one child is cheaper and easier. (Newsweek, 2001) In that case it is conscious choice of not giving up the already achieved standard of living.

Moreover, only children are getting more parents’ attention in everything they do while children with siblings have to share the attention they receive with their siblings. This is crucial to the child as the children with siblings sometimes feel that they are left out because the parents can not focus on the children all the time and this time have to be shared with the number of siblings one has. However, the higher amount of parental attention applies to everything one does. Therefore, having done something wrong the only child is the one to be blamed as in families with more children the blame is shared within the siblings. Thus it do not feel as bad as one has someone to share it with as with only children they are the only one to blame. In addition to this the parental attention can be a real pressure. The children with single child families are the only ones that parents expect to achieve something. Many may feel strong pressure to succeed. Therefore it is not clear whether having more parental attention is actually beneficial to the child.