Redshirting - Good idea? Bad idea?

[Tech Explorer]

There's been talk on tv about redshirting. Does it lead to success later in life? As a side question, does it promote bullying or does it lessen it? (I don't have children and I do favor redshirting)

 

[Celegorm]

For those who like me don't know what redshirting is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshirting_(academic)

 

[MMM]

Debatable, every child is different in social skills & learning abilities.

 

[berry120]

My birthday is less than 5 days from the cut off point - i.e. I was pretty much universally the youngest in my year. My sister's birthday is in a similar place too, as are 4 good friends of mine. We were all introduced to schools as the youngest in the year, stayed pretty much that way throughout and are all doing fine now, the majority of us having got good degrees at university and in mine and one other case, went onto do a postgrad as well.

Equally, I know people with birthdays early in September who did shockingly at school, despite being the oldest in the year. It entirely depends on the individual and the parenting and teaching involved - but based on my experience, definitely *shouldn't* just be done as a matter of course if your child will be one of the youngest in the year.

 

[root]

My birthday is less than 5 days from the cut off point - i.e. I was pretty much universally the youngest in my year. My sister's birthday is in a similar place too, as are 4 good friends of mine. We were all introduced to schools as the youngest in the year, stayed pretty much that way throughout and are all doing fine now, the majority of us having got good degrees at university and in mine and one other case, went onto do a postgrad as well.

Equally, I know people with birthdays early in September who did shockingly at school, despite being the oldest in the year. It entirely depends on the individual and the parenting and teaching involved - but based on my experience, definitely *shouldn't* just be done as a matter of course if your child will be one of the youngest in the year.

*THAT*!!

I was talking about this the other day with a guy at work and reached the same conclusion.

In fact overall we reached the conclusion that.
(where cut off date is 31st august)
take two kids, one born 23:59 Aug 31st, other born 00:01 September 1st)
kid one starts school at age 5, (on September 2nd)goes through school.
second kid starts a year later, (on September 2nd, but he's already just had his 6th birthday the year before).



neither of those children are going to get bullied, based on either being the biggest or smallest in the class, (because schools have good anti bullying programs)
neither of those kids are going to not be taught, (no child gets left behind), each will receive extra tuition if needed.

assuming that the school is good enough (and they both learn and work at the same rate), both will receive the same education.

fast forward to when they leave school.
the 2 minute older child will have already left and started earning a year before.

they may well be close as dammit to the same age, and may have exactly the same qualifications. but the fact that child 1 has finished school a year earlier will always meant that he has a year more experience, he'll always be preferred for jobs based on his experience.

he'll always be a year further ahead,

his retirement fund will have a years extra wages in it.

his overall lifetime remuneration will always be one year greater than the 2 minute younger child.


at retirement age, (which for both will be the same day) the kid who started one year earlier in school will invariably have a bigger pension, be retiring from a better job.

the long and the short of it, (in my view) is:
if you want your child to excel in a career, the sooner they start school, the sooner they are away from school, the faster they are on a career path/ladder.

if you want your child to be the biggest/olderst/most developed socially, for their first year of school, then hold them back a year, they may always be the biggest and oldest, but the socially development advantage will soon disappear!

 

[MMM]

*THAT*!!

I was talking about this the other day with a guy at work and reached the same conclusion.

In fact overall we reached the conclusion that.
(where cut off date is 31st august)
take two kids, one born 23:59 Aug 31st, other born 00:01 September 1st)
kid one starts school at age 5, (on September 2nd)goes through school.
second kid starts a year later, (on September 2nd, but he's already just had his 6th birthday the year before).



neither of those children are going to get bullied, based on either being the biggest or smallest in the class, (because schools have good anti bullying programs)
neither of those kids are going to not be taught, (no child gets left behind), each will receive extra tuition if needed.

assuming that the school is good enough (and they both learn and work at the same rate), both will receive the same education.

fast forward to when they leave school.
the 2 minute older child will have already left and started earning a year before.

they may well be close as dammit to the same age, and may have exactly the same qualifications. but the fact that child 1 has finished school a year earlier will always meant that he has a year more experience, he'll always be preferred for jobs based on his experience.

he'll always be a year further ahead,

his retirement fund will have a years extra wages in it.

his overall lifetime remuneration will always be one year greater than the 2 minute younger child.


at retirement age, (which for both will be the same day) the kid who started one year earlier in school will invariably have a bigger pension, be retiring from a better job.

the long and the short of it, (in my view) is:
if you want your child to excel in a career, the sooner they start school, the sooner they are away from school, the faster they are on a career path/ladder.

if you want your child to be the biggest/olderst/most developed socially, for their first year of school, then hold them back a year, they may always be the biggest and oldest, but the socially development advantage will soon disappear!

Had a good good laugh on this one, where do you get your thinking from....
thats if they were equal on IQ, education level etc etc.... one would be better off but in a real world....What would your argument be if the older one was a dummy and the young one a genius...lol
I put it in another way, depends on what education level the individual is capable of achieving to determine the career path and standing in society.

I don't think there is a correct outcome for this debate.

 

[David Lindon]

I think the real question is if the childs brain is developed enough to be able to learn anything worthwhile at a younger age or not. Sure you may leave a year earlier but how much effect will that extra first year of working a more basic position have? How quickly you move up the ladder is more important, if you are content to sit in one position instead of taking risks then ultimately your earnings will be alot lower.

I guess what I am saying is, length of time served at a company does not directly reflect your position in the career ladder. Is the costs of loosing a years development in learning how the world works through play outside outweighed by starting acidemic learning earlier?

 

[jmacavali]

Working in a school system, I can tell you that it depends entirely on the kid. I think it's stupid to "redshirt" just so that they are a year older. But if the kid isn't ready to start school, then don't rush them into it.

I'm not trying to brag but I'm going to use myself as an example. I was one of the youngest in my class (actually there were about 5-8 kids in the grade behind me who were older than me). I was always at the top of the class in terms of grades. I finished 7th in high school (so maybe I slacked off a little senior year ). I was also good at sports. I was a 4 year letter winner in wrestling and a 3 year letter winner in football and baseball. I wasn't left behind by starting early. In fact, my parents tell me that when I was in 1st and 2nd grade I use to get in trouble because I wouldn't do all of my homework or all of my worksheets in class. After meeting with the teacher and me, they actually found out it was because after doing 2 or 3 of the problems I knew what I was doing and got bored so I figured I was allowed to quit the worksheet once I understood.

Just as another note, the kid that finished 1st in our class (the kid with the best grades) is actually younger than me.

I think the decision has to be made by the parents/teachers based on the kid and how ready they are for school. It should not be made by the parents who want their kid to have a size advantage for sports (because that's what this is really all about).

 

[MMM]

I think the decision has to be made by the parents/teachers based on the kid and how ready they are for school. It should not be made by the parents who want their kid to have a size advantage for sports (because that's what this is really all about).

I never heard or thought any parent would do that so their child could have an advantage in sports since playing sports always is categorized by age groups. (no advantage at all)

 

[jmacavali]

It happens all the time, when you get to junior high/high school they will be one year older than all their peers.