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I am 16 years old and I have 5 siblings. First off, that's plenty right there. Second, they're all younger than me. When I come home from school, they are often very loud and I generally have quite a bit of homework and I can't focus when they are around, yelling, screaming, fighting, perhaps even playing nicely, just too loudly. They tend to just create general havoc. My dad isn't home till evening and my mom is often either gone or unable to deal with all of them at once and if she is focusing on one kid, others will make up for it.

What should be my course of action to get them quiet or study without hearing them?

Their ages is between 4 to 15 if it is required.

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  • Are they interacting with you, or just being loud? Are they trying to get you to play with them, or do they just want to annoy you? How frequent are the interruptions? The more description you give, the better we can suggest solutions
    – Arcanist Lupus
    Aug 23, 2018 at 3:56

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Siblings that age -- especially the teenagers -- are probably not going to listen to you. They won't see you as an authority figure (you're only a year older than the oldest one), but unless they're very thoughtful and perceptive, asking them to stop so you can focus on your homework is unlikely to produce long-term results. Been there, done that (my sister is two years younger than I am).

Instead, talk with your parents -- not in the midst of the stress, but at a calmer time, maybe on a weekend. Maybe talk with your father, if your mother is stressed by dealing with five kids. In the conversation, focus on your actual problem -- you need a quieter environment to do your homework (which you take seriously!) -- rather than a specific solution (like changing their behavior). Perhaps the solution is for you to go somewhere else after school to do your homework instead of going straight home. If you have a local library, that would be a good option to suggest. You want to show your parents that you're not just dumping a problem in their laps, you're mature enough to focus on the problem instead of getting upset at the sibs, and you're willing to do some of the work to solve it.

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  • If finding an alternative location or effective noise canceling isn't an option you might also consider finding an incentive for good behavior. This will likely require your parent's approval (which is why this is a comment, not an answer), especially if you don't want to suffer the cost of the incentive yourself, but it might motivate siblings who would be otherwise disinclined to take your needs into account.
    – Arcanist Lupus
    Aug 23, 2018 at 5:02

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