Child Care: Analysis of Sibling Rivalry and Bullying Effects

This assignment delves into the dynamics of sibling rivalry and bullying within the context of child care. It begins with a scenario illustrating how unequal distribution of gifts can trigger jealousy and conflict between siblings, leading to arguments and behavioral issues. The assignment analyzes the root causes of such conflicts, emphasizing the role of parents in resolving disputes and teaching children to share and understand each other's needs. Furthermore, the assignment addresses the concept of bullying, defining it as a pattern of domination and power imbalance, and explores its detrimental impacts on children's mental health, including depression, anxiety, and changes in behavior. It highlights the long-term consequences of bullying, emphasizing the need for early intervention and support. The assignment concludes with a list of relevant references, providing a foundation for further research and understanding of these critical issues in child development.

Running head: CHILD CARE
Child Care
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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The scenario selected from reading 1 is the evolving needs for children.
It is a known fact that conflicts and quarrels often happen due to the changing needs and
preferences of the kids. It can so happen that there are two siblings living in a house1. An elder
sister named Miya and an younger brother named Tom. It can so happen that some relatives visit
the house during Christmas Eve, taking gifts along with them for both the siblings. As the
younger sibling is a new born, it is natural that the relatives will take a little more number for
gifts for him than what they take for the elder one. It was seen that the relatives had taken two
boxes of chocolates and a teddy bear for the younger sibling whereas they took one box of
chocolate and a teddy bear for the elder one2. The extra box for the younger one was just because
of the fact that he was a new born and the relatives went to visit the family and bless the new
born on the eve of Christmas. However, this never meant that the family or relatives have less
affection for the elder sibling. This gesture of taking a little more amount of gifts for the younger
sibling might make the elder one react angrily. This also created a bit of jealousy within her.
Hence, she started behaving rudely with the relatives. Moreover, in another instance it was seen
that she started shouting on her brother when he wanted to play with her toy teddy bear leaving
his own. She thought that the relatives were treating them unequally. This led to a quarrel
between the two siblings3.
1 Rodkin, Philip C., Dorothy L. Espelage, and Laura D. Hanish. "A relational framework for understanding bullying:
Developmental antecedents and outcomes." American Psychologist 70, no. 4 (2015): 311.
2 Burchinal, Margaret R., Deborah Lowe Vandell, and Jay Belsky. "Is the prediction of adolescent outcomes from
early child care moderated by later maternal sensitivity? Results from the nichd study of early child care and youth
development." Developmental psychology 50, no. 2 (2014): 542.
3 Ching, Christina B., Haerin Lee, Matthew D. Mason, Douglass B. Clayton, John C. Thomas, John C. Pope, Mark C.
Adams, John W. Brock, and Stacy T. Tanaka. "Bullying and lower urinary tract symptoms: why the pediatric
urologist should care about school bullying." The Journal of urology 193, no. 2 (2015): 650-654.

3CHILD CARE
Miya got jealous on getting
less gifts than her brother Tom
and shouted at him
Tom being small cried on
being scolding by his sister.
Tom wanted to play with
Miya’s toy, which made Miya
even more angry and both of
them started quarrelling
Parents distanced the siblings
till they were calm
Made the siblings understand
that they must learn to share
their toys and play together
Parents explained Miya that
Tom being small gets more
gifts or a little more attention,
which is necessary, keeping in
mind his age.
Giving a little more gifts and
attention to Tom does not
mean that Miya is being
neglected by the family or by
the relatives.
Both siblings were taught not
to misbehave in front of the
guests ever.
Parents created a win-win
situation, where they said both
the siblings were at fault and
now they must both be sorry
and reconcile with each other.

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‘Jenny stuck her tongue out
at me and took my toy!’
I cried.
This situation turned out in a
sibling rivalry because the
younger sibling cried at the
gesture of the elder one. The
younger sibling got angry
and irritated at the fact that
the elder one made faces at
him and also took away his
toy. This made him throw
some toys at the elder one as
an act of revolt. The elder
one took it as an insult and
both started quarrelling with
each other.
The parent, being an adult
tried to distance the two
siblings until they are calm.
Explaining to the kids that
both of them were equally
responsible
This might not help in the
first instance. So, the parent
must suggest a game that
can be played by both
siblings with both the toys.
This must be made clear to
both the sibling that at times,
more care has to given to
one of them.

5CHILD CARE
Activity 5
What is bullying
Key points
 Domination
 Undue advantage of power
 Repeated behavior
 Includes actions like making threats, attacking someone
Impacts of Bullying
Key points
 Harsh impacts on kids
 Suffers from depression and anxiety
 Sleeplessness and changes in eating patterns
 Loss of interest in activities
 Issues might affect adulthood
Impact of Bullying
There can be severe impacts of bullying in the lives of the kids. It can disrupt their mental
health. Constant bullying at school or among the individual’s friend circle can make them feel

6CHILD CARE
inferior to others4. This can be directly reflected through the changing sleeping and eating
patterns of the kids. They might suffer from sleeplessness and irregular diet timings. This can
also give the kids nightmares. This can cause serious mental trauma among the kids, the effects
of which can be long lasting and detrimental and can affect the adulthood adversely.
4 López Jiménez, Lidia, Julio Blas, Alessandro Tanferna, Sonia Cabezas, Tracy Marchant, Fernando Hiraldo, and‐
Fabrizio Sergio. "Ambient temperature, body condition and sibling rivalry explain feather corticosterone levels in
developing black kites." Functional Ecology 30, no. 4 (2016): 605-613.

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References
Burchinal, Margaret R., Deborah Lowe Vandell, and Jay Belsky. "Is the prediction of adolescent
outcomes from early child care moderated by later maternal sensitivity? Results from the nichd
study of early child care and youth development." Developmental psychology 50, no. 2 (2014):
542.
Ching, Christina B., Haerin Lee, Matthew D. Mason, Douglass B. Clayton, John C. Thomas,
John C. Pope, Mark C. Adams, John W. Brock, and Stacy T. Tanaka. "Bullying and lower
urinary tract symptoms: why the pediatric urologist should care about school bullying." The
Journal of urology 193, no. 2 (2015): 650-654.
López‐Jiménez, Lidia, Julio Blas, Alessandro Tanferna, Sonia Cabezas, Tracy Marchant,
Fernando Hiraldo, and Fabrizio Sergio. "Ambient temperature, body condition and sibling
rivalry explain feather corticosterone levels in developing black kites." Functional Ecology 30,
no. 4 (2016): 605-613.
Rodkin, Philip C., Dorothy L. Espelage, and Laura D. Hanish. "A relational framework for
understanding bullying: Developmental antecedents and outcomes." American Psychologist 70,
no. 4 (2015): 311.