Quarantine balancing act for older siblings
Youngest sibling Avery Andrist meeting with her class at her makeshift desk
April 24, 2020
The oldest siblings in a large family tend to have more responsibilities than their younger siblings will at their age. With the quarantine in effect, many smaller children are left with needs for supervision, tutoring, nutritious meals and entertainment. If both parents are still working full-time, it can lead to a lack of these crucial things for the younger children. This is where the oldest sibling usually has to put more on their plate to make sure that their younger brothers or sisters are being given more attention to make up for a lack of physically being in school.
“ I have always been there helping my two younger brothers, but I have had to take a lot more responsibility lately. I think you just have to treat it like time you get to spend with them rather than seeing it as a chore. — Aidan Cords
This can involve making lunches, providing help with technology or school lessons, or just keeping an eye on them during the day because they lack the supervision that a classroom setting provides. Most high schoolers in this situation are accustomed to not needing to provide this extra time. With difficulty adapting to their own online courses and having to constantly take breaks to help their siblings, it can make distance learning much harder than it has to be. Establishing a work area in your home can be a big help to coping with the stress, and if there are multiple siblings, getting them to help each other can also solve a lot of the problems that they may encounter. Senior Aidan Cords said, “I have always been there helping my two younger brothers, but I have had to take a lot more responsibility lately. I think you just have to treat it like time you get to spend with them rather than seeing it as a chore.
All in all, older siblings are taking a lot of work on due to the current situation; however, as long as they see it as an opportunity to spend more time with their younger siblings they may not see during the day, they can still get enjoyment out of it.
