Only Doesnt Mean Lonely (The Single Child)

Time Canada, July 10th 2006 Edition. by J.K.

Only Doesn’t Mean Lonely (i)

 All families, even big ones, start off with an only child. Some, however, stop there. Is that a mistake? Do kids denied the gift of sibs(ii) turn out to be spoiled, withdrawn, socially ham-handed (iii)?

  The thinking used to be yes, yes, yes. But as increasing numbers of sibling researchers look at the question of singletons—the new sensitively-trained term for only children—they say such assumptions are becoming less and less accurate.

(i) Only=only child

(ii) sib=siblings

(iii)Ham-handed: socially awkward.  And from http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/h/h0035300.html: Lacking social grace or tact. 

   No one has studied the only child more closely than social psychologist Toni Falbo of the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1970s, Falbo became interested in whether the popular singleton stereotype was true, and embarked on 30 years of research in the U.S., China, South Korean and elsewhere. She conducted personality surveys, administered questionnaires, and conducted meta-analyses of other relevant research papers—essentially recrunching(iv) the singleton data in other scientist’s work. Her conclusion: single kids do just fine—most of the time.

(iv) Number crunching/crunching the numbers: working over your data to try getting at a result or conclusion. (This is a popular expression used in science, engineering, economics, statistics, business, ….)

 

   Unlike kids with siblings, singletons may indeed start out with the sense that the moon and the planets orbit around them (v); awakening to the reality that they’re mortals after all can come as a jolt. But how much and how quickly the singletons adjust depends on a lot of things, including the kids’ temperament.

  “Some kids are very outgoing and will figure out quickly how to be successful,” Falbo says. Others take longer.

(v) I.e. they are the center of attention. (Ahem…like the “little Emperors” in China’s one child family.)

 

    In general, though, Falbo insists that the myth of the troubled singleton is just that (vi), and she confesses her astonishment that so many people will regard that as news. (vii)

   “They’re amazed that, gee, singletons are just like anyone else, “ she says.—by J.K. of Time Magazine.

(vi)= the myth is just a myth, nothing more.  

(vii) She was surprise that so many people find her finding to be surprising, when it should be a well-know fact.