Interesting article from 20/20 about birth order... I'm posting the part that I thought was most interesting...

Does Birth Order Determine Personality?

By JOHN STOSSEL

The Neglected Middle Child

... But, there is at least one point on which both sides agree: middle children get the worst deal.

According to Conley, middle children are "25 percent less likely to be sent to a private school than they were before, and they're five times more likely to be held back a grade."

Ellen Cowan agrees that being in the middle "stinks." Her older brother gets a better deal because he's going to be first at everything, like prom and graduation and college, she says. And her younger brother, well, he's in a better spot, because he'll get to be the last in the family to go through these milestones. She even said "there's no point" to being a middle child.

Both her brothers agreed. Neither of them said they'd change spots with her.

Ellen's mother sensed that Ellen needed something more and she's trying to make it up to her, partly by doing something with Ellen every week. It's a good idea, say many experts, for parents to do this with any middle child.

Conley said middle children need "time where they're not being compared, at least in their own heads, to their older, or to their younger siblings. Time where they can get the individual attention from their parents."

So while the claims about first-borns and last-borns may not hold up. Parents should be sure to take care of the middle child.