Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 10:42     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Because it’s like having rules about being vegan. The only people who care about other people being vegan are people who have bigger problems they should be dealing with instead.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 10:40     Subject: Re:Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The redshirt debate is so dumb. The advantages are highly exaggerated. No one is going to think your kid is super smart because they repeated a grade. And your kid may feel self conscious and embarrassed by being older than everyone else for the rest of their time in school (not to mention being incredibly bored having to repeat a grade).


Lol no. The only people who have a problem are people like OP who think they made a mistake or missed out. It’s all upside for redshirters.


I’ve seen it go sideways in athletics with kids who were used to cruising by being the stars in elementary and when some of the younger kids came out ahead post puberty they struggled not being the best on the team and didn’t have the grit and work ethic to keep up and dropped altogether. I saw that even in 4/5 grade when kids started evening out.


And to the point of OPs question:

The school does not care what position or how much playing time your kid gets, whether they are youngest or oldest, redshirted or not. It literally has zero bearing on the schools interests.


Just pointing out for sports it’s a a huge advantage in elementary school in sports but can go sideways
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 10:31     Subject: Re:Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The redshirt debate is so dumb. The advantages are highly exaggerated. No one is going to think your kid is super smart because they repeated a grade. And your kid may feel self conscious and embarrassed by being older than everyone else for the rest of their time in school (not to mention being incredibly bored having to repeat a grade).


Lol no. The only people who have a problem are people like OP who think they made a mistake or missed out. It’s all upside for redshirters.


I’ve seen it go sideways in athletics with kids who were used to cruising by being the stars in elementary and when some of the younger kids came out ahead post puberty they struggled not being the best on the team and didn’t have the grit and work ethic to keep up and dropped altogether. I saw that even in 4/5 grade when kids started evening out.


And to the point of OPs question:

The school does not care what position or how much playing time your kid gets, whether they are youngest or oldest, redshirted or not. It literally has zero bearing on the schools interests.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 10:05     Subject: Re:Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The redshirt debate is so dumb. The advantages are highly exaggerated. No one is going to think your kid is super smart because they repeated a grade. And your kid may feel self conscious and embarrassed by being older than everyone else for the rest of their time in school (not to mention being incredibly bored having to repeat a grade).


Lol no. The only people who have a problem are people like OP who think they made a mistake or missed out. It’s all upside for redshirters.


I’ve seen it go sideways in athletics with kids who were used to cruising by being the stars in elementary and when some of the younger kids came out ahead post puberty they struggled not being the best on the team and didn’t have the grit and work ethic to keep up and dropped altogether. I saw that even in 4/5 grade when kids started evening out.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 10:03     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
What’s the upside to graduating HS at nearly 19? Not everyone is athletic, so spare me that argument.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 10:00     Subject: Re:Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Anonymous wrote:The redshirt debate is so dumb. The advantages are highly exaggerated. No one is going to think your kid is super smart because they repeated a grade. And your kid may feel self conscious and embarrassed by being older than everyone else for the rest of their time in school (not to mention being incredibly bored having to repeat a grade).


Lol no. The only people who have a problem are people like OP who think they made a mistake or missed out. It’s all upside for redshirters.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:58     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Because it doesn’t make a difference for the school. Kids testing well in whatever grade they are in is what matters.


Yah but it seems like a short term solution. I’m thinking of my own kids who are not at the top of their class with testing and it seems like they might do well for one year repeating the curriculum they already learned and then drop back to the same percentiles they are “naturally” at. I wouldn’t expect them to suddenly be acing everything.


You are right- it isn’t really academically advantageous because all the kids are learning the same grade level material. But if parents feel it’s in their kids’ best interest due to social reasons, maturity, or whatever- the school has no reason to challenge that. Redshirting does not negatively impact the school.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:56     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We live in a very heavy redshirt area. We moved from DC right before kinder. My son is June and his grade is very old. I just found out two more friends are now being held back. He’s incoming first. One has a Feb bday and the other March. Our cut off date is Sep1. They are struggling with reading but the gap is just becoming very large for the kids on time. This is a public school. Right now even with June he’s the youngest boy in the grade. When we started I actually asked admin these questions and they weren’t honest about it and said most went on time born in summer. Once we started I realized almost everyone from March on redshirted so he’s significantly younger. He’s doing fine but I wish the school was honest about it prior to starting as he’s made friends now so it would be a big transition to do it now.


Going back to MARCH?! I have never heard of such a thing barring a strong academic or social reason.

My second grader is a June, started on time, and has at least 4-5 classmates with summer birthdays.


Yes, it’s a thing in some places. I didn’t realize it until my early April birthday kids had classmates over a year older than them. The parents shared that it’s because they wanted their kids to be the oldest in the class for academic and athletic advantages.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:56     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Someone has to be the youngest. If he’s doing well don’t worry about it.

For retirement purposes, it’s much better to start working earlier rather than later. The extra year of income at age 21 leads to a lot more compounded wealth by age 70.

My June boy was on the younger and more immature side in elementary and middle. I sometimes doubted my decision not to redshirt. But by senior year he was more than ready to go to college and is doing fabulously.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:47     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Anonymous wrote:We live in a very heavy redshirt area. We moved from DC right before kinder. My son is June and his grade is very old. I just found out two more friends are now being held back. He’s incoming first. One has a Feb bday and the other March. Our cut off date is Sep1. They are struggling with reading but the gap is just becoming very large for the kids on time. This is a public school. Right now even with June he’s the youngest boy in the grade. When we started I actually asked admin these questions and they weren’t honest about it and said most went on time born in summer. Once we started I realized almost everyone from March on redshirted so he’s significantly younger. He’s doing fine but I wish the school was honest about it prior to starting as he’s made friends now so it would be a big transition to do it now.


Going back to MARCH?! I have never heard of such a thing barring a strong academic or social reason.

My second grader is a June, started on time, and has at least 4-5 classmates with summer birthdays.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:39     Subject: Re:Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
The redshirt debate is so dumb. The advantages are highly exaggerated. No one is going to think your kid is super smart because they repeated a grade. And your kid may feel self conscious and embarrassed by being older than everyone else for the rest of their time in school (not to mention being incredibly bored having to repeat a grade).
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:18     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Anonymous wrote:Because it doesn’t make a difference for the school. Kids testing well in whatever grade they are in is what matters.


Yah but it seems like a short term solution. I’m thinking of my own kids who are not at the top of their class with testing and it seems like they might do well for one year repeating the curriculum they already learned and then drop back to the same percentiles they are “naturally” at. I wouldn’t expect them to suddenly be acing everything.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:16     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
I guess my thought this- and I’m totally fine with redshirting and understand why people do it but why doesn’t the school encourage kids to move on except in more extreme cases. I have heard it’s better if you’re behind academically and reading to stay on track and get more support and only to do it if your kids struggle socially cutting in with peers. Our district has really strong reading programs and dyslexia specialists if this comes up. In the case of these friends they did well socially and had plenty of friends.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:15     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
Because it doesn’t make a difference for the school. Kids testing well in whatever grade they are in is what matters.
Anonymous
Post 07/27/2025 09:09     Subject: Why don’t schools have stronger policies about redshirting?
We live in a very heavy redshirt area. We moved from DC right before kinder. My son is June and his grade is very old. I just found out two more friends are now being held back. He’s incoming first. One has a Feb bday and the other March. Our cut off date is Sep1. They are struggling with reading but the gap is just becoming very large for the kids on time. This is a public school. Right now even with June he’s the youngest boy in the grade. When we started I actually asked admin these questions and they weren’t honest about it and said most went on time born in summer. Once we started I realized almost everyone from March on redshirted so he’s significantly younger. He’s doing fine but I wish the school was honest about it prior to starting as he’s made friends now so it would be a big transition to do it now.