How To Help Children And Youth That Have Repeated A Grade At School

This is a very complicated and controversial issue. Repeating a grade can be devastating to self-confidence and success in later life. The majority of children & youth who repeat a grade do not finish high school. Repeating a grade should most often be avoided at all costs. A child or youth who has repeated a grade should be promoted as soon as possible to catch up with her/his age group to undo the negative effects of grade repetition on self-confidence. Special help has to be given so the child or youth experiences a great deal of academic success. Getting a thorough medical checkup is highly recommended the minute grade repeating is considered. Undetected medical conditions can cause poor school performance.

There are many types of intelligence and styles of learning. With support, intelligence can be improved. With support, learning styles can be enhanced. When educators and parents blame children or youth for being lazy, they are avoiding responsibility for finding what will help them be successful. Having young children begin school when they are older is a good formula for success. The oldest children in a class often are the most successful and learn the easiest throughout their lives.

Occasionally, children & youth are relieved when they are required to repeat a grade because the pressure to be successful has been so uncomfortable. This can be a short term gain, since they will carry the stigma into the rest of their lives. Better to repeat the grade, get lots of extra help to catch up and rejoin the social group. Sometimes, however, when the children or youth are the youngest in a class, repeating a grade actually connects them with their social group, carries less stigma, and turns out to be beneficial for them.

Most often making a child or youth repeat a grade indicates a failure of the school, not the child or youth. Usually falling behind the other children or youth and being forced to repeat a grade is due to the child being amongst the youngest in the class and thus being immature intellectually and socially. These factors can cause stress and slow learning.

Insufficient progress in academic programs is also often due to and complicated by: learning disabilities; perceptual challenges; learning styles not compatible with teaching style; difficulties following instructions; challenges remembering; genetics; family patterns; lack of sleep; lack of regular nutritious meals; family turmoil and change including illness, separation, divorce, incarceration; parental addictions; poverty; prolonged stress; challenges with physical organization/coordination; challenges with concentration and focusing; unsafe schools; moving schools and homes often. All of these can be complicated by frequent illnesses; high stress; peer pressure at school, gang involvement; child, youth and parental substance abuse challenges; child or youth or parent depressions/anxiety; physical, emotional and neurological imbalance due to traumas and abuses of all kinds. Exposure to environmental pollutants may also be involved.