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Preview: Redshirting

July 5, 2012 5:00 AM

More parents are holding their children back in school to give them an age advantage. Watch Morley Safer's report on a rising trend called "redshirting" this Sunday, July 8 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

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by SportsKidDad November 13, 2012 5:37 PM EST
Horspuckys! What a bunch of justification HAWGWASH!

Dads are taking advantage of this "loophole" so that their "boy" can make that "monster tackle" in football, or throw 10 mph faster than the other baseball kids...while they pound their chests like gorillas in the stands.

Moms are doing it so their kid can go up to the podium to receive their annual "do gooder" award, while they can run up to front of the audience and take their favorite "my kids better than yours" facebook picture.

And let me tell you something... every parent that didn't "Redshirt" their "underdeveloped" kid for "this or that" b.s. reason, despises you everytime you do it.

90 percent of parents that do this are doing it to have an advantage over other kids. And they could care less about the other kids they are effecting. They are the same ones that call the teacher all the time and pressure them to change a "B" to an "A" so they can get into Harvard.

And what is interesting is that when you point out the truth in someone doing this, they get really mad. It's like telling a kid you know he did it, and he has no other response but to get mad about it.

"Oh, you don't know my kid"... blah, blah, blah. You're right, I don't know your kid, but I know you. And what is sad is that your reproducing like rabbits, without any regard for the other kids.

Quit lieing to yourself and the intelligent people here that know that is what you did.
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by teacherone July 8, 2012 8:41 PM EDT
I was a very shy child all through school. I was the youngest in my class. I knew most of the work .However, I never spoke up in class. I was also the oldest child in my family. I taught kindergarten for 28 years. I saw children who where the youngest in the class over and over with my personality. I came to relize that if I had gone to school the next year my life would have been very different. I think sex and birth order are also factors.
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by raynissan July 8, 2012 8:15 PM EDT
My son entered kindergarten at age 4 and 1st grade at age 5. It would have done him a great injustice to "hold him back" because of his age.His intellect and social skills were equal to or greater than all the students older than him, his athletic or physical abilities were as good as any. In Elementary school he excelled academically, winning spelling bee's against children older than him. He won quiz bowl, Math bowl,and made honor role. He also excelled in sports, winning a State soccer title @ 8 years old, A league football title @ 8 years old. MVP title in baseball @ 8 years old. At 9 years old ,he tried out for a select baseball team and made it. They went on to win 2 National titles. He graduated in the top 2% of his class and was a 4 year letterman in Baseball. He received a full Academic Scholarship to Hendrix College in Conway AR., and was a standout player for their baseball team. I think if we had "redshirted" him he would have been a terror on his classmates and teachers because of boredom.
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by merrelr July 8, 2012 8:10 PM EDT
I wish to take issue with the general sense I got of the idea that holding your child back in school is gaming the system. I, myself, had a late November birthday and actually started kindergarten mid-year and was later "skipped" a semester to be with the September class. I was small and young for my age. While I was smart enough, I was always behind in size, development and maturity. When my son was born in early December I held him back in kindergarten. He was also small for his age. In soccer, you weren't allowed to hold a child back so he played with kids a year older and a grade ahead and a lot bigger. I finally got smart by 6th grade (his not mine) and lied about his age. He had a much better time. I didn't want my son to be behind. I was not striving for him to be the best.
Meanwhile another son born the end of July was not held back and was big for his age. He was also very young for his age and probably should have been held back for maturity reasons. People do better in school when they are properly mature and not feeling socially inept. I'm sure I would have. If every kid is held back then the whole class will be more mature and perhaps do better as a class.
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by UK76Girl July 8, 2012 8:03 PM EDT
This is a personal decision every parent of a child with a birthday near the age for school cut off faces. I think it's important that every parent be allowed to make that decision, and no one else has the right to criticize the parent. As we saw on the program, what's right for one child isn't right for another. One size doesn't fit all kids.

That said, my son was a July baby; he was born 28 years ago. While watching him with his peers in preschool it was apparent that while he was bright, he was immature compared to his friends. With that in mind, we "redshirted" him and he spent two years in two different 4-K classes. He started kindergarten at age 6 and fit right in.

His teachers never realized we had delayed his entry into school unless I said something, which I rarely did. No one cared - he was just one of the kids in the class. But I will always believe that one of the reasons he did well academically was because he had the maturity to handle the subject matter at grade level, and I don't think he could have had he been exposed to it a year earlier.

My son graduated from high school at age 18 - when most kids do. He turned 19 that summer and was able to go 1,000 miles away to college; I can't imagine doing that happening with a barely 18 year old. And as an extra bonus - we got to enjoy him at home for one more year before he went away to school.

Of all the parenting decisions my husband and I have made through the years, we've second guessed many of them. But not this one! For our son, this was the right decision.
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by 24coach July 8, 2012 8:01 PM EDT
It made me sick to my stomach to have someone even imply that it is cheating to hold back your child. I was held back 40 years ago and I held back both my kids a daughter and a son. Freedom of choice built this nation and to take that out of the hands of parents is criminal in my opinion. Every child is different, holding a child back should always be a choice parents can make.
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by jrseegrl July 8, 2012 7:56 PM EDT
I have been a first grade teacher for 10 years. I can attest to the accuracy of the theory presented in "Outliers" with first hand experience. The oldest students in my classes over the past 10 years have been, with few exceptions, the most capable and academically successful. This has to do with several key factors. First of all, older students tend to have a longer attention span, and better ability to focus and concentrate for extended periods of time. Additionally, they tend to be developmentally ready to learn key concepts for which some younger students may not yet be mentally equipped. Education has slowly but surely become less and less "developmental" over the years, and material that was once presented in first or even second grade is now being introduced in kindergarten. I beg any parents that will listen to PLEASE hold their young children out of kindergarten. Believe me when I tell you this is for everyone's benefit. There is nothing worse for a child than to sit at a table, frustrated by school work that is simply too difficult. And there is nothing worse for a parent than to sit on the other side of that table, knowing that no matter how hard they try, they cannot get their child to understand. It is a recipe for disaster. The gift of time is truly priceless.
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by poolman871 July 8, 2012 7:52 PM EDT
Are kidding me? let kids be kids. Stop living your life through your kids. My child was told that he had a learning disablity when he was 3. now he is in grade 10, made the honour roll in high school 2 years in a row. Some parents need to accept the fact that they never became the student or idol that there parents were. Leave your kids alone. The problem with the younger kids is the parents and what they what them to be. If you raise them properly, they will turn out good, if you raise them with a nanny or live in maid, shame on you.
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by mkcttnbr July 8, 2012 7:51 PM EDT
As a teacher and a parent who did hold my child back in the 4th grade due to behavioral issues (maturity), I can tell you it should be up to the parent to decide whether his or her son or daughter is ready to move up or be held back. We are a success story from the effects of holding back, my child is more responsible, well mannered, and has no difficulty from his academics. As a teacher, I see many students who would actually benefit from being held back academically and maturity. It is a shame for public school systems to move kids up and down without regard to parents wishes. We have "over age for grade" where teachers are forced to move students up regardless of if they are ready or not based upon their age, all in the name of research. Well, does research prepare these kids who are moved up and cannot read or do basic math by the time they reach Secondary education? Then they wonder why we the US are so far down the ladder in terms of academics.
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by HondaBee July 8, 2012 7:51 PM EDT
I was born the first of October and my cousin was born 28th of November. I went to school ahead of her. I graduated at 17. I never felt any different than any of the other kids in class. In fact in some classes, my grades were better. The only thing that happened was that I always thought I was a year older than my cousin. It took a while for us to realize that I was only less than 60 days older than her. This was years after school. We were born the same year but I graduated a year before her. It never affected our schooling or our athletics. We are both described as "normal" or even as 'exceptional" in the diagnosis of socially accepted diagnosis.
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