Kindergarten Debate

The great kindergarten debate was one that my own family has taken part in. On one side, parents hold their children (mostly boys) that have missed the cut-off date of September 31st, one year back so that they'll have an advantage over the normal kids. On the other hand, critics like Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt, who wrote the New York Times' Delay Kindergarten at Your Child’s Peril, believe that this may hurt the child. the article states that, "In a class of 25, the average difference is equivalent to going from 13th place to 11th. This advantage fades by the end of elementary school, though, and disadvantages start to accumulate. In high school, redshirted children are less motivated and perform less well." My brother is just the opposite, he was pushed forward even though he missed the cutoff date. He was never seen as the shrimp as his grade And contrary to what anyone would expect, he was always seen as one of the older ones because of his height. Sometimes it does begin to show that he is a little behind his peers in maturity and sports skill, but he always makes up for it with his intelligence.  My brother, who is also a gifted student, surpasses many children in his grade -some of which are more than a year ahead of him- in test scores and intelligence. He has learned to keep up with his peers and I feel like most children in his position would do the same. As the article states, as time goes on, the disadvantages begin to accumulate as time goes on when children are "redshirted". The situation begins to become a little sticky when sports are brought into the equation. Many children that are mature for their grade, are perceived as more advanced, and as a result, many of them are put in a class with older kids, taught more, and more time is put into 'harvesting' and 'growing' their talent. This is when kids like my brother have the disadvantage. Even though my brother is tall and smart, it doesn't make up for some of his setback in his football skills. He plays as if he was a junior, but he is technically a senior. Because he was seen as "okay" a few times and looking a bit older, people think that he's just not as consistent as his classmates, when in reality, hes playing even better than an average junior. There are many advantages and disadvantages of being redshirted. My opinion is to leave them in the grade they should be in, let them grow and figure things out by themselves instead of babying them and setting them one year back in the future.