This has been happening for ages now but we haven’t changed. Parents have always been punishing the older child for everything and the young one escapes it all. They are always told that they are older and should be responsible. Parents are strict with the older child because they feel this way they can pass on their message very clearly to the younger child. Parents punish the older child for everything because they feel hat they are showing their disciplinary attitude to the kids. More over parents always feel that the young is too young to get the punishment and so the older suffers.

Yeah, being the older child can stink. I'm not saying that all parents a favor the younger child, but mine sure did! My mom used to say that I got punished harder for things, because by the time she had my younger sister, she had "lightened up."

I have an older brother, and I've never felt like he was punished more severely. If we both did something bad, we'd both get punished. My dad used to always tell my brother to look out for me, but that was about it.

I don't agree with that at all. In my house, whether it's the older or younger, the one that does the bad deed faces the consequences. I was the older child too and I have never been punished instead of my younger brother.

If anything, I wished for my brother to take the heat for something that I've done. My parents always tried to be fair in their treatment of us. I always assumed that the oldest child had it the best.

It takes a conscious effort on the parents' part to treat older children the same as younger ones. Yes, I have seen what you describe: younger ones get away with more. They clearly shouldn't. And I have also seen families where parents keep very good balance, and all kids feel that they are treated failry.

I used to feel like I got in trouble more than my brother. When I was little, I was often told to stop meddling with my brother. Oh, man, I was told that so many times. I think that made me act up even more. I was often reminded that my brother was a lot bigger and older than me, so I shouldn't be acting up.