Thread by @suzannezeedyk

THREAD. What does the science tell us happens whn children start formal schooling too young (like early 4)? That’s what t @GiveTimeScot campaign, led by Scottish parents, is trying hard to get the rest of us to ask too. Here are some insights. Note: it’s not comfortable reading.

2. Children who are the youngest in their class struggle to make friends. 2019 study.
“Worse development of social skills and relationships in the long-term, which affects well-being and success in the labour market.” independent.co.uk/life-style/you…

3. Youngest children in a class more diagnosed with ADHD. 2019 study.
“Younger children may find it harder to concentrate in class, leading to increased diagnoses of hyperactivity = inferior academic performance & poorer peer relationships.”
webmd.com/add-adhd/news/…

4. Class intersects with starting school too early. 2014 study.
“Being the youngest in school entails less negative consequences for children of highly educated parents. Inequalities based on social background are larger among students who were younger.” population-europe.eu/pop-digest/dis…

5. Youngest children in a class have poorer mental health. 2017 study.
“Overall the effect was small, but researchers believe the stress of keeping up with older peers could prove a "tipping point" for vulnerable children, such as those born prematurely.” sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/…

6. Youngest children in a class hv poor language skills. 2015 study.
"Our results questn whether many of the youngest childrn hv the language skills to meet t demands of the curriculum, to integrate socially with older peers & regulate their own emotions." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

7. Younger children are less likely to make it into university. 2018 study.
"The results showed that teens who were nearly a year older than peers had 6% advantage of entering university over students who were a year younger than peers." studyfinds.org/oldest-younges…

8. Here's my questn: How much evidence to we want? There's masses more of it. How long shd I make ths thread?
I've drawn on studies that are all less than a decade old. We know stuff we didn't use to know. That means ppl in power hv a responsibility to rethink, to get curious.

9. I take a risk talking about this so publicly. Local authorities pay my costs when I am asked to come & work with schools. If I irritate them by questioning their policies, maybe my income will drop. Maybe it will drop so much that it threatens my ability to stay in business.

10. But here's t thing: If LAs are reluctant to grant deferrals because of budgets, thn the science makes clear *those savings are made by damaging children*.
I don't want my tax £ spent in ways that damage childrn. T savings are short-term anyway. In t long run, it costs more.

11. Do LAs intend to damage children? I don't think so. I get that systems & professionals live in denial of the damage they cause. I get that we depend on traditional ideas like "the kids will grow out of it" and "we need to get them started reading & writing as soon as we can."

12. But our professionals & policymakers now have the evidence that tells us that our traditional ideas about starting early & 'growing out of it' ARE NOT TRUE. There is no excuse now for ignorance. When you don't get curious about the damage you do, that is called DENIAL.

13. I think if more parents understood this info (understood t biology of child developmnt) then more wd hv confidnce to argue on behalf of thr childrn. @GiveTimeScot is trying to support thm to do ths. But it is scary for parents. Social media mocking these days can destroy you.

14. Shd I say all this out loud? I am always a nervous when I put it so baldly, so publicly. But I'm willing to take those risks, because our culture wilfully (if unconsciously) damages children's potential. I want to live knowing that I did what I could to try to stop that.

15/end. There are so many things that are hard to stop. Poverty. COVID. Flooding. Family breakdown. Climate change.
This one is easy. This is simply a matter of changng policy for a relatively few number of children & their parents. Ths is a problem that can be solved tomorrow.

16/ps. Just in case anyone says: 'Okay, but all childrn will be able to do this frm 2023. Some councils currently piloting the roll out of deferrals.' That means we are willing to sacrifice some children for t next 2 years. Why are we willing to do that?
thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/school…