Sample Essay

Only Lonely (3/3)

Moreover, only children may feel lonelier than the ones who have siblings. The connection between siblings is not the same as with friends. Although, sometimes there must have been huge fights within the siblings the connection is special. Friends move away and new ones come but family stays. Even though, studies have shown that only children nowadays have many friends and so are not as lonely as they were thought to be, a number of only children will still wish to have siblings when it their parents’ aging and ailing (Newsweek, 2001). Thus there is no one to share this experience with or with whom to make decisions concerning the aging parents. Therefore it may make one feel very lonely as the ones who have siblings do not have to make the decisions alone or go through the experience alone.

Overall, being an only child is not beneficial. The child who has siblings can be more socially and emotionally more developed than the only child. Studies have tried to find out whether the only child is happier than the one who has siblings. Such studies are not reliable as happiness is such a personal matter and so can not be measured. The discussion in the media about the problems of raising an only child has created a number of books published about the matter as well as magazines and websites.

Bibliography:
Greenberg, S. H. 2001. The rise of the only child, 23 April 2001, 50-56.