We provide robust empirical evidence that school performance of children in the NLSY-C declines with birth order as does the stringency of their parents' disciplinary restrictions.

Well then I'm an exception to the rule.

I'm a middle child, or as I like to say when asked "the middlest." (Because people get to be 'the' oldest and 'the' youngest. So I'm 'the' middlest.) I have an older brother and a (much) younger sister. I think that generally my parents were about equally stringent on my brother and me when they were raising us; there's less than 2 years between us so that probably helped. Typically I feel like with these sorts of questions the judgment of whether someone is "doing better" depends on the yardstick, but I'd say that from a traditional point of view I've outpaced my brother in success almost across the board:

Me:

- earned grad degree in 4 years

- found full-time corporate employment before obtaining degree

- have stayed in field and almost doubled income in 3 years

- live with roommate, support self

- have generally obtained all the normative trappings of adulthood in American society (I think?)

My brother (who, by the way, I love dearly):

- currently is in his 8th year of college*

- has been permanently expelled from the institution where he began his college career

- has a criminal record which is extensive enough so as to potentially prevent him from getting certain jobs

- does not own a car and does not have his license

- has bounced around between jobs as a waiter, coffeshop person, and now, works retail for $10/hour

In high school he had a 2.2 GPA on graduation, I had a 3.0

I'm trying to think if there's anything else. I don't know. His life is his life. I don't view him as a failure. I just view his life as different. He's still working on figuring out what he wants.

* Not consecutively, etc, there were some kerfuffles