Essay On Redshirting

Even if there is a short-term academic gain from redshirting, it may come at the expense of negative long-term behavioral and social effects. The explanation comes down to the science of the brain. In an editorial entitled Delay Kindergarten at Your Child’s Peril, neuroscientists Wang and Aamodt explain that “children benefit from being close to the limits of their ability…Too low an error rate becomes boring, while too high an error rate is unrewarding” (2011). They note that being around older kids actually helps advance social development. They also argue that redshirting makes school easier, and that’s not better. Wang and Aamodt assert that a 4-year-old’s “brain development cannot be put on pause, so the critical question is how to provide the best possible context to support it. For most children, that context is the classroom” (2011). In these terms, redshirting amounts to a wasted opportunity. Redshirted children are set up for an early childhood full of success and minimal failure. Indeed, many parents would say this is the …show more content…
The effect of relative age perceived in sports does not appear to carry over to academics. Any correlation between redshirting and improved academic performance is mostly triggered by “concerted cultivation” (Lareau, 2003, as cited in Gladwell, 2008, p. 72). Parents that have the means and ability to redshirt their children are some of the most involved in ensuring a successful education for them. Generally speaking, once this condition is separated from the effect of age itself, any relative age effect is minimal and generally short-lived. From a society and ethics standpoint, a strong case can be made to impose strict standards on when redshirting should be allowed. Additionally, the information on long term behavioral and economic effects, as well as expert opinions on brain development, indicate that redshirting does more harm than