Redshirting: Holding kids back from kindergarten

Wasilew was so determined she considered suing, but in the end she enrolled Jacob in a private school. He started kindergarten at age 6 this past fall.

Wasilew: He's a little tall. But he's not any taller than the other, you know, some of the other boys in the class. And I love the school. It's very small and intimate.

Safer: And expensive, no doubt.

Wasilew: And more expensive than public school. Yes.

Safer: You're spending a lot of money on this issue that I guess some people would say will solve itself. I mean, if you may-- he doesn't do well at kindergarten by the time he's in third grade he'll be shining like the rest of the kids. So what's the big deal?

Wasilew: Well, actually I think it's the opposite. I think he would be okay if he got pushed ahead. But I think come third, fourth, fifth, sixth grade he would not be okay socially. I think he would be too young.

The Chicago Public Schools met with great resistance from parents, but so far they are sticking to their policy. Elsewhere, redshirting continues to rise. Malcolm Gladwell believes that most parents need to take a deep breath.

Gladwell: Parents are grasping at every straw available to them to try and maximize their children's chances of doing well in the world. I wonder if we'll look back on the way children were raised in our particular time and place and say, "What were we thinking?"

Safer: One of the effects of your book has been an epidemic of people holding their kids back from kindergarten. Do you feel a responsibility in this?

Gladwell: Yeah well, I mean first of all I'll take this to my grave but if everyone does it then the effect is cancelled out. The irony, of course, is that the kinds of parents who are doing this are the parents whose children are the least at risk.

And then there is the Jock Effect: holding kids back to give them a sporting edge or more accurately an unsporting edge.

Safer: Did the issue of athletics play into your decision as well?

Megan Hoffecker: It did. That one year has made a huge difference for him.

Megan Hoffecker insists that all is fair when it comes to the game of life.

Hoffecker: I want to give him an advantage in every aspect that he has. And if that's in the sports realm, I'll give him the advantages that he can have. I'm not trying to make others disadvantaged, but it does benefit him.

Holly Korbey also believed that the advantage of being not just older, but bigger was the real motivation behind redshirting.

Korbey: Several parents said to me, "Don't you want him to be competitive?" And I said, "He's 4! I don't even know if he likes sports."

Despite all the pressure to hold her son back, Korbey felt Holden was ready to start kindergarten just after he turned 5.

Korbey: And everything went fine. Nothing exploded.

Now age 8 and in the third grade Holden Korbey seems to be thriving despite being the youngest in his class.

Korbey: He gets excellent grades. He has never had a behavioral issue. He has lots of friends. He's absolutely normal.

Safer: Having been through this experience how would you advise young parents?

Korbey: Okay, I have one message: Have your babies in the wintertime. If you are thinking about becoming a parent, have your babies in the wintertime, and then you will get to avoid this issue completely.

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[AnonMom]

2 of my 3 sons have summer birthdays-- my oldest, now 20, would have been well served to have been held back to be the oldest instead of the youngest. The whole concept was unkknown to me when he entered Kindergarten and the issue didn't come up until he was half way through first grade -- it was raised on "maturity" -- he was not reading at the start of 1st grade but then was reading at a 3rd grade level by the end of 1st. He's done fine -- but baseball wound up being very important to him and he was always at the "bottom of the top" of the class -- trying to keep up with the tippy top -- he would have benefitted from not being with a group of kids that were all 12-18 months older -- that was the piece of information I was missing: that all the other boys (save for 2) that were going to be in his high school graduating class were going to be held such that he was going to appear to be really young.... So much for crystal balls. If everyone sent at age 5, it would not have mattered at all. Then, my youngest, 5 years later -- I aksed the question: "Hold him?" and the principal said "no" -- now he's 15 and the reality is that it would have been a huge mistake to have held him -- he's at the top atletically and academically -- having spent his whole life keeping up with 2 older brothers and being the youngest is just something he prides himself on. It hasn't been a problem at all and I think holding him would have been a disaster -- real boredom as he was doing multiplication in 1st grade and reading in kindergarten. So, you've got to approach it by child. The "little guy" is lucky because he went through puberty young --he's not the "smallest" in his grade even though there is only one child in his grade who will turn 15 after he does. He's on the "big side" (for now, he won't be for long). He's shaving. So he doesn't appear to be so young... But the "hold" decison" is very difficult when they're 4 -- you don't know when puberty will hit (there are legal consequences to harmonal boys in class with girls at certain age differences....); you don't know what their interest level will be for sports and what their skill set will be for academics. It's very difficult -- I kind of like the Chicago: send them at their age rule, which is the one I grew up with.

[unicornkc]

I live in Florida, am a retired teacher and find this interesting. In the state of Florida students are not allowed to start kindergarten until they are 5 years old, and if their birthdays do not come before Sept. 1st they are not allowed to start and are required to wait until the following year. For example my daughters birthday is Nov. 8th and was not allowed to start until the school start date after she turned 5, so in other words was not allowed by the school system to start until the August/September before she turned 6. The thing that upset me is that people told me she would have been better to be older and at the top of the class instead of younger and at the bottom of the class. Problem was that we realized later she would have been at the top of the class no matter which year she started - therefore after her 7th year in school we withdrew her and home schooled her (I was not teaching at the time) and then at the age of 16 went and passed the GED received a high score and started college 1 1/2 years before she would have graduated from high school. Even though I taught several years after thisin the public school system I now would not put my child in a public school. They don't know what is best for your child only you do.Do what is best for your child and fight the system if you have do. We did and she has now graduated from college and is very successful, has worked since she was 15 and greatly admired by her fellow workers.

[Aurealia]

Because my birthday was in February, I was required to wait until I was six before entering the first grade. I wanted to learn to read when I was five. I never felt like waiting was an advantage; I was ready when I was ready.

Oh, by the way, the best indicator of a child's success in school is the length of maternal education. Children whose parents are from Mexico where 6th grade is the highest level of free education are disadvantaged. My mother quit school at the 8th grade. In high school and college I was on my own. Not only was my mother unable to help with home work, she was intimidated by my teachers and school administrators. But my mother believed in education and supported me through college.

The Latina in the wood pile

[MichiganDude]

I remember when I was a kid, we went to school when it was time to go to school (1978). Actually, back then, it was "the earlier the better", mainly so mom could get a break from our craziness. Once again, adult fears of failure and rejection have encroached on the lives of children. Give them the best advantage, saddle them with unrealistic expectations. "Son/daughter, if you fail, I've failed - failure is not an option."

[ewcollins]

I did not see a single father interviewed. Do all these boys come from single-parent families? Perhaps their fathers are to busy to be involved, or perhaps their mothers are the type who like to always be in control. Are only boys red-shirted? What about the girls with summer birthdays?

[retiredgustav]

Maybe they were working?

[smittyc]

The drop out rate in H.S. is as high as 40% .(Chicago) Pretty clear something is wrong with the way they run the P.S. system.

[commemorative]

Just because your child is the biggest, tallest or oldest does not guarantee nothing. Every child is created differently. My oldest was advised to say in kindergarten for another year, but I refuse, was it going to guarantee he would do better, no. My decision turned out to be the right one, he didn't do well in school but being held back had nothing to do with it, he was slow and it just took more time for him to catch on to everyday life activities. Today he is a successful cook in a retirement home and is doing fine on his own, I could not be more proud and surprise. I realized that it all had to do with his maturity level, which you learn from responsibility, commitment and everyday life experiences.

[wolfpackred]

The problem is how we structure school in the first place. Chronological age does not determine where children are in their developmental readiness for academic success. Rather than make children/parents feel as though their children are problematic, there is a concept of multi-age classrooms that is designed to think outside of an industrialized concept of education. This is NOT a 21st century concept, yet we cling to traditional ideals of education that promote inequity and stereotypes. http://php.scripts.psu.edu/dept/jrre/articles/v3,n3,p111-115,Pratt.pdf. We continue to assign negative connotations to those who do not attain certain academic/athletic goals by a certain age rather than nurture and recognize that every child has strengths and value in our society.

[nikonkos]

My son shares a birthday with my nephew, separated by 15 years. My nephew was the oldest in his class, my is the youngest in his class. I knew from watching my nephew struggle constantly throughout his school life with being the tallest, oldest, not-fitting-in, bored kid. I would have moved if I had to in order to get my son into kindergarten when he was 5. He ended up starting preschool at age 2, and kindergarten at 4. His is the 1st birthday of the year at school, and is soon followed by classmates turning a year older just as he had caught them in age.

No matter, he is well adjusted, intelligent, engaged in learning and most of all he is happy. I am glad I could give my son the opportunity to get AHEAD instead of being held back.

[abby_del_abbey]

This is the height of stupidity -- I remember that the older child in class was once presumed to be "slower" than the other children in class -- he was presumed to have been "held back" because he couldn't keep up...

Parents have stopped letting children be children and are so hung up on being # 1, the alpha dog, that the children are going end up basket cases if they aren't #1

[christinaaon]

Amen!!