Redshirting should be banned

[Anonymous]

Barring a recommendation by a free school evaluator for legitimate learning reasons, it should not be allowed.

Way too many UMC are doing it for non-academic reasons, simply so their children will be the leaders socially and athletically. And they will get their wish since that extra year of physical development naturally makes a difference.

Families who cannot easily afford to pay for an extra year of preschool are left behind.

[Anonymous]

Agree!

[Anonymous]

Agree 1000%.

-elementary school principal (who sent her own boy with a July birthday on time)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barring a recommendation by a free school evaluator for legitimate learning reasons, it should not be allowed.

Way too many UMC are doing it for non-academic reasons, simply so their children will be the leaders socially and athletically. And they will get their wish since that extra year of physical development naturally makes a difference.

Families who cannot easily afford to pay for an extra year of preschool are left behind.

+1. It never crossed my mind to redshirt, but so tired of watching DS feel bad competing academically and athletically against kids a year or more older. That’s a huge developmental difference in the elementary/middle school years and it has created a lot of negative vibes for him through no fault of his own.

[Anonymous]

Please do not feed the troll.

[Anonymous]

I agree. I know a set of twins who were both held back because one twin was slightly immature.

That said, I wish there was more fluidity between grades. I had a super early reader who could have gone to grade 1 or 2 in kindergarten, but it just didn't happen at my school. I know other kids who are super strong at math, but were bored in their grade because they weren't allowed to go to a higher grade just for math instruction. Maybe if multi ages in a subject was more common throughout the schools, kids wouldn't feel bad about themselves ?

[Anonymous]

This has never been discussed before. Thank you so much for bringing it up!

[Anonymous]

I say introduce year around schooling with rolling entry times and strict upper and lower age boundaries.

Allow every child weather they are born in August, November or February to choose where their age is relative to their peers. Those who thrive being the little fish can choose to be the youngest and vice Versa and in between.

[Anonymous]

I would prefer for elementary schools to have no cut sports teams. In lieu of DCPS paying for buses to other schools for games, invest in salaries to teach kids the sport and give each child the opportunity to grow.
Have school elected positions be an opportunity to grow and engage with a rotating student government and anyone who wants to participate can have their name pulled out of a hat.
There are ways our schools can address this - but they have decided not to.

[Anonymous]

If you feel so strongly about it the. You should lobby to get the rules changed because right now it is a legitimate option for parents. Personally I think fluidity with admissions is good so that families can make the decision to start that makes the most sense for their family and their child. And, apparently most school systems in the DMV agree with me since there are mechanisms to start your child early, on time and a year later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer for elementary schools to have no cut sports teams. In lieu of DCPS paying for buses to other schools for games, invest in salaries to teach kids the sport and give each child the opportunity to grow.
Have school elected positions be an opportunity to grow and engage with a rotating student government and anyone who wants to participate can have their name pulled out of a hat.
There are ways our schools can address this - but they have decided not to.

What elementary schools have cut sports and are bussing kids to other schools to play?

[Anonymous]

Why do you care?

Not everything is a competition. Raise your kids the way you feel is best and let others do the same.

Why control what other do with their children? Isn't that a bit like controlling who can marry, what other do with their bodies/healthcare how others invest their time and money, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you feel so strongly about it the. You should lobby to get the rules changed because right now it is a legitimate option for parents. Personally I think fluidity with admissions is good so that families can make the decision to start that makes the most sense for their family and their child. And, apparently most school systems in the DMV agree with me since there are mechanisms to start your child early, on time and a year later.

You missed the part of the OP that talks about how this is only an option for families that can afford to delay their child’s school start. So the current system does not afford flexibility to families. It affords flexibility to families who already benefit from having more resources, so that not only do their kids have a resource advantage but they are also bigger and more developmentally advanced than their peers. It simply compounds existing inequalities.

[Anonymous]

There are several schools in Montgomery County where this is seemingly encouraged, specifically to gain unfair advantages in athletics. Landon and Mater Dei are particularly egregious. It’s gross, but it’s reality. One thing that would put a stop to this would be age limits for middle school and high school athletics. It would be nice to stop seeing 15 year olds maiming 70 lb 12 year olds at middle school games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you care?

Not everything is a competition. Raise your kids the way you feel is best and let others do the same.

Why control what other do with their children? Isn't that a bit like controlling who can marry, what other do with their bodies/healthcare how others invest their time and money, etc?

Not OP but redshirters turn it into a competition by rigging it so their kids win. Other people don’t want it to be a competition, and if people simply followed the age cut-offs it wouldn’t be— whether your kid was bigger or more advanced would wind up being a function of luck and timing, not gaming the system.

Redshirting puts kids who are not redshirted at a distinct disadvantage because they were already going to be younger than most peers, and with redshirted kids in class, now they may be nearly 2 years younger than some peers. So when kids are tracked for reading and math, or when it’s time to try out for sports, they are much more likely to wind up in the less advanced track or not make the team.

Redshirting is not just done neutral personal choice. It’s an aggressive behavior that impacts all the other kids in the grade.