Sibling Rivalry

Having a sister or brother can be a lot of fun; at times it is like having an extra special playmate! However, as kids get older and school gets more serious, sometimes siblings start to compete with their grades and their smarts.

This can be frustrating and hard to deal with, especially if you are the younger sibling or your grades aren't as good. While this competition may seem like a very serious and permanent feature of you and your sibling's relationship, you can break the rivalry. That's right, you and your brother or sister don't have to compete when it comes to school!

Remember, It's Not a Race

Your education is not a race, as people learn different skills on different schedules. Often, you may be behind a sibling or a friend with a particular skill at the beginning of the school year but when June rolls around, you have learned a lot and are far ahead of the other student. The next time your brother or sister tries to tease you about knowing something that you don't, try to remind them that school is a personal matter and everyone learns differently at various times.

Lend a Helping Hand

Instead of making grades and homework a race, you and your sibling should be helping each other out! The next time one of you is struggling with a skill, there might be a tip you can share to help the other person learn the concept. By working together you have twice the brain power than you have when working alone! Helping each other out can actually be fun because you can finish big projects more quickly.

Just remember that helping each other out does not mean completing assignments for each other. You each need to do your own homework, but your sibling can help you with coloring or creating something to go along with a research report, etc.

Give Parents a Break

Did you know that most sibling rivalry stems from each child trying to get attention from their parents? Sounds silly when you think about it because parents love each child, no matter what skills they know or are better at! Additionally, all of the fighting that stems from this rivalry creates extra tension for your parents as well. This means that competing for your parent's attention is actually hurting the whole family.

Talk it Out

The next time you realize you and your sibling have turned school into a competition, take a time out. Talk with each other about how the arguing and competition make you feel. Try to find common ground and create rules about dealing with grades and knowledge.

Competition can be exciting when it comes to a friendly game or sports but when it comes to school it often gets nasty and out of control. If you and your sibling read this article and discuss the issues that surround your academic rivalry, you should be able to ease some of the tensions you are experiencing.