Redshirting Should Not Be Allowed In College

Redshirting is the choice of delaying the start of a child’s kindergarten to prevent the child from being the youngest in the class. In Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success, he discusses the concept that redshirting starts an infinite pattern of advantage and disadvantage in education. This stems from the idea that redshirted children who become the oldest in a class receive more opportunities that gradually provide an edge in their education. This creates a gap between the redshirted child and other children’s educational achievements. Redshirting should not be allowed in the American education system because it gives an unfair advantage to those redshirted, and has a negative effect on social learning. The act of redshirting is …show more content…
It locks children into patterns of achievement and underachievement, encouragement and discouragement, that stretch on and on for years”(Gladwell 28). Despite redshirting being an early decision, its effects are lasting. A redshirted child who starts with an advantage will remain excelled for the duration of said child’s academic career because of that initial edge. When a redshirted child’s advantage is recognized, they are offered more educational promotions and opportunities that stick with them from kindergarten to post-high school, widening the gap between redshirted students and standard students. In addition to being harmful to younger disadvantaged students, redshirting has a negative impact on the older students. Many behaviors developed by children are influenced by their surrounding environment. In mention of “Delay Kindergarten at Your Child’s Peril”, “Redshirted children begin school with others who are a little further behind them”. Because learning is social, the real winners in that situation are their classmates”(Wang and