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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A question about fairness!

How is it fair for red shirted kids to be in a class with my late June birthday kid? Developmentally they are going to be ahead, do the teachers care or take this into consideration?? It doesn't seem fair. Some can be almost 9 months older.[/quote]

First of all, even without redshirting, some kids can be a year older than the others.  Wherever you arbitrarily draw the line, a child could be born tge day before or the day after.

Secondly, kids are not widgets, they do not all develop at the same rate in any characteristic, let alone across all characteristics.  Do you expect every child to be the same height on their 5th birthday?  Expecting kids to have the same level of maturity, social skills, athletic ability, mathematical ability, language skills, etc., is equally absurd.  Most people understand that every person (of any age) has strengths and weaknesses.  For children, abilities may correlate roughly with age, but a single child can be advanced in some ways and struggling in others.  Parents debating whether or not to redshirt will probably second-guess themselves for years and occasionally have regrets.  Keeping them on level may be great in someways, but leave them struggling in others.  Redshirting may mean they struggle a little less in some areas, but have other challenges in ways that would have been served better starting earlier.  Often there isn’t a “right” answer for a specific child.  The idea that an arbitrary rule can be THE “right” answer for EVERY child is ridiculous.

Thirdly, it’s not a competition. Other kids can thrive without limiting your child.  Moreover, a child who lacks the maturity to behave in class could cause disruptions that would be detrimental to your child’s experience. Parents who redshirt their kids may be doing your child an immense favor.

Finally, life isn’t fair. There are too many variables to make that a possibility. Even my kids complaining about gifts learned that when we asked them what would make it fair:  the same dollar amount?  number of gifts?  getting the kid who liked slime Barbies that they didn’t want because that’s what their sibling wanted (or vice versa).  I think letting each parent make the best determination for their child’s individual case (whether that’s starting “on time”, redshirting, or possibly even early enrollment) is probably the closest thing to fairness we can achieve.  Everyone (including you) has the option to consider whether redshirting their child would be beneficial.

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