Should we promote children to the next grade EVEN if they don't earn it?

Question

I know some people believe that a child will feel bad if they don't advance with thier friends. BUT, is this really going to teach them anything other than you can get ahead in life by being lazy and stupid but you have to feel bad about it?

Answer 1

From personal experience, children who don't know the material should be held back regardless of what they or their friends think. The grading system was invented for a reason, if parents and teachers aren't going to use it, then what is the point of school. We might as well give them the books at home and say "there it is, if you want to learn it go ahead, otherwise don't worry about it!"

My adopted brother was passed through all 13 grades, from kindergarten through 12th and he graduated with a second grade reading level and first grade math skills. I blame this on the public school system because they told his real mother that he was too stupid to learn it and it was a waste of time to try to teach him. This happened over 15 years ago, thankfully the board of education has put a stop to this kind of malarky. My children are fully aware of the fact that if they do not make the grade they will not go to the next grade. If the school will not hold them back, then I will.

School is for education, not socialization. If people are so concerned about what other people think, then their parents have already failed in teaching them lifes most important lesson. They need to take care of themselves and make sure they have what they need to succeed regardless of what their friends think.

Answer 2

Children develop at different rates. Some children are ready for school at six. Others might not be really ready until they are seven or eight. Because of this, sometimes the best thing that can happen to a child is that he is held back a year. It's not always a question of being stupid and lazy (maybe even mostly not). If a child is being stretched too far then he can break and give up.

So, I am for not promoting the child, but also not labelling him in such a way that he feels he is being punished. A child can find that the change of classmates and working at his level so that he can succeed gives him the desire to work harder. He finds out he can do okay.

And in the long run of his life, when he is in college or looking for a job, that extra year isn't going to make anything but a positive difference in his life.

The child that really just doesn't or won't try or doesn't have what it takes to get through regular school needs a different kind of help altogether--probably one on one tutoring.

I think it is important to look at more than just one thing in making the decision--and advancing with his friends shouldn't be the determining factor (in my way of thinking) unless there are special reasons for it. And if there are those reasons then the parents need to take the responsibility to provide private tutoring for the child to make sure he gets through that grade.

Otherwise he may grow up to feel just the way you have described.

Answer 3

Depends what you mean by earn. Say a student has straight F's in the classroom yet scores two or three years above grade level on standardized tests. Are the F's his fault? The teacher's fault? Is he just bored with division when he's ready for algebra?
I think one needs to get at the root as to why a child was unsuccessful. Does he or she have a learning disability? Are his or her parents illiterate or simply unable to help? What programs have been tried to help the student become successful? Is the student lost in a room of thirty students? What would happen if he or she was in a class size of 3-4... or maybe a one-on-one tutorial? Children need help... the adults need to make sure they get it. I have seen teachers and administrators give up on children because they really can't find a way to help them. Too many children are being labeled failures. In my mind, we as a society are failing them and WE don't deserve to be promoted anywhere!

Answer 4

I've worked with a lot of kids for a long time in a lot of different settings.
I used to be very much against promoting students who don't "deserve" it. I've changed my views.
Sooner or later, though, if you ACTUALLY work with kids as opposed to sit back and have opinions about it, you come to realize that it's really not about the kid in question at all. It's the OTHER kids that start to matter in the equation.
You really don't want a 16-year-old driving to junior high and hitting on the 12 and 13-year-old girls, etc. (This example is not ridiculous - it is based on an actual kid's situation I was involved with). The kid that you're considering holding back probably already does not give a crap - and he/she is NOT going to give a crap either way. You're not going to "punish" them into caring about school or success any more than you're going to make them start caring because they are so grateful for your generosity in passing them. So.....what you have to do is figure out what is the best thing to do for EVERYONE involved in a case-by-case basis. Sometimes it's holding a kid back (usually a younger kid anyway that's not yet mature enough) or moving them along to get them the heck out of the way so you can educate the kids there that really deserve an education.

Answer 5

It might make some of them feel bad. it does not teach them anything but that some people don't care. Schools are good for pushing them through. I even had the school hold my child back because I did not want him to struggle and feel stupid. Those student that get passed that are not ready will just get frustrated and not want to try. What an education.

Answer 6

it is well known that failing a child in K or Fist grade destroys their self-esteem and will have long-term negative reprecussions. the normal range of learning to read is up to age 8, so for a boy to be held back at all before that age for not reading is utterly cruel, and reveals a stupid school system that knows nothing about the needs of children.

i'm so sorry to hear about parents who cooperate with the schools in this abuse of their young children. that six year old left behind his cousin will suffer for a long time and it will not be good for him. the parents are deluding themselves that they are being good to and for their child. they are hurting him terribly and should reject that solution and demand their child be with his age peers. I'm heartbroken to imagine him, because I watched this cruelty acted out on a neighbor boy of ours. He is 13 and has still not recovered emotionally.

how about this - should schools expect all kids to learn the same thing at the same speed at the same age? children are made to feel bad when it is the school system that is failing them. this starts very early, k,1,2 - especially for young boys because school is physiologically inappropriate for them at that age, and by the time they are 10 -12, they look like they have a problem. but really, they were abused and misserved by the school system.

there should be no grades - no grades that you are divided into and no grades you are given on your work. school should simply be a fabulous place full of every resource for learning where the kids choose what and when they want to explore and engage the teachers as guides.

kids who are promoted without learning what was expected are not learning they can get ahead by being lazy and stupid - what they learn is that their society doesn't really value them. and they are right.

Answer 7

When you take away the hurdles to getting a degree then the degree becomes meaningless. We might as well just hand over PhD's (oh wait, there are some places that do that). I think that parents need to get more involved with their child's education. I think public schools are botching it. "No Child Left Behind" is dragging down everyone else to the level of those who aren't willing to work, or are unable to. Perhaps what we need is to get rid of public schools altogether. Leave it up to the private sector and provide vouchers to those families who can't afford it.

It may be socially difficult for a child to be 'left behind', but this doesn't necessarily prevent them from being with each other. I had friend in High School who were one grade above and one grade below me and had little trouble meeting up with them.

Answer 8

I think that promoting children to the next grade leval when the don't deserve it IS teaching them that they can get ahead by being lazy and stupid. They'll just think that they can get byand excel in life while doing the minimum and not actually working .

Answer 9

Should we? We are past that stage, as we do. Some educators will certainly support the theory that "holding back" can have a negative effect, but I think I would rather see an educated child with a small chip on her shoulder than an uneducated child raised with the experience that you can advance through the system without meeting the requirements. Our educational standards in the US are generally on the decline, sadly.
NOTE: It's "their" friends; I'm sure it was just a typo.

Answer 10

Absolutely positively not. This world may be made up of culture and society but you need the educational fundamentals to succeed in any of it. Let's just forget the case of being lazy and stupid but focus in on Education. With a lack of it how are you supposed to even survive. This is what is wrong with this country and a lot of other countries around the world, Lack of Education, If the child really felt that bad, he/she would put extra effort into their studies to insure they would not fail.