KIm Chaeha/Ch.1 first draft/summer 56

In a family, each child has certain roles and these roles impose certain duties on them. Because of these roles, the burden which each child feels is different. I think the oldest child has the largest burden and seems to have the most difficult lives for several reasons. First of all, parents usually have high expectation of the first child being more responsible than his or her younger siblings. As the oldest child is a first kid for the parents, they probably want to make their child as perfect as they can and this leads to the high expectaion. This anticipation can be a burden to the oldest children and may result in the children having a lot of stress on how they act. Second, having the concept of parental role, the oldest kids tend to suppress themselves or be too strict on themselves. There are often many cases of the oldest children yielding snacks or toys to their younger siblings. Also, the oldest kids try to be a role model for their younger siblings because they think they have to act like their parents. Finally, the oldest kids are apt to have the thought of still leading and taking care of their younger siblings when they are all grown-ups. In Korea, normally the first kids are the people who most involve in family matters. They decide which way to solve the problems and younger siblings usually just follow what the oldest says. To sum up, oldest children are living the most difficult lives since they have high expectation from their parents and themselves and responsibility of taking care of their siblings.