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Not only children’s relationships with their parents begin to change during late childhood, but their relationships with their brothers and sisters also change during this time. By the time children enter school, those who have siblings spend considerably more time with them than they spend with their parents. During late childhood, siblings increasingly compare themselves to one another and it is through these comparisons that siblings learn how they are different from one another. Thus, sibling relationships provide children with opportunities to learn about themselves.
Older siblings often take on some of the functions that parents serve such as caretaking, comforting, and support. Siblings may provide support or comfort, but it is not comparable to that provided by parents or other adult caregivers.
Only Children Early in the twentieth century, the famous developmental psychologist G. Stanley Hall quoted, “Being an only child is a disease in itself”. Social deprivation for children was considered to have detrimental effects on their social development. Spoiled, insensitive, socially awkward and egocentric. Only children were just as motivated and have self esteem as children with siblings. They are also resourceful, popular, self-reliant, and successful in their relationships with other children and adults.
In recent years with the increase in the number of working mothers and single-parent families, children today enter into peer groups earlier and for longer periods of time. Therefore peer groups play a more important role today than in earlier times. The period of late childhood is a critical time for the development of these peer relationships. Friendships become more stable and significant during late childhood and children spend more time with their peers and friends. As school-age children develop more advanced social, emotional and cognitive skills, they become more adept at communicating with peers, understanding their behaviors and intentions and coordinating their actions with those of others. Peer relationships also are important for children with disabilities, because they offer a context in which these children become valued members of a social circle. Thus, peer relationships represent important resources for children’s successful adjustment.
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