Discussion Title: Should students be allowed to skip grades?

1. Students should be allowed to skip grades.
1.1. Con: Skipping grades prevents students from getting in-depth learning on subjects, thus leading them to be unprepared when tackling the higher grade level curriculums they would go into.
1.2. Pro: Forcing accelerating students who wish to learn into unchallenging environments puts them against human nature \(i.e. trying to expand current knowledge of the world around themselves\).
1.3. Pro: If a person is already competent in a subject, they should be able to skip it instead of relearn it.
1.3.1. Con: There are [options that students can utilise](https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/skipping-a-grade-pros-and-cons/) to accelerate the process of learning one subject, without having to skip grades.
1.3.2. Pro: [Millions of American K-12](http://neatoday.org/2017/03/27/should-more-students-skip-a-grade/) students are performing above grade level and are not being appropriately challenged.
1.3.2.1. Pro: Not only does [this deficit](http://neatoday.org/2017/03/27/should-more-students-skip-a-grade/) drag down a child’s intellectual development, as researchers warn, it is putting the country’s future prosperity at risk.
1.3.2.2. Con: This can be repaired by ensuring that each student in a class gets individual attention and extra credit work in order to rise to their potential.
1.3.3. Pro: A student who is made to spend more than the necessary time learning a particular topic is having their time wasted.
1.4. Con: Students who skip grades are exposed to more bullying in school.
1.4.1. Pro: Students who skip classes are normally not associated with cool and rebellious behavior, but with being obedient, meticulous and eager students.
1.5. Con: If people skip grades, they miss out on social experiences that define one's childhood.
1.5.1. Pro: [Educators and parents](http://neatoday.org/2017/03/27/should-more-students-skip-a-grade/) are concerned about pushing their children’s academic development ahead of their social and development.
1.6. Con: School teachers should come up with mechanisms like accelerated curriculum and extra credit assignment when some students in class need more of a challenge.
1.6.1. Con: If a student skips a grade then they will have many gaps of learning they need to do. If they move on to another grade they might be confused because they might have needed to learn some stuff about a specific topic last year.
1.7. Con: Their age would not match up with other students, which can create negative impacts, that are unseen with not skipping grades.
1.7.1. Pro: Children may find it more difficult to make friends if their classmates are not the same age as them.
1.7.1.1. Pro: Younger students are likely to feel left out in a classroom where everyone else is the same age and has known each other for years.
1.7.2. Pro: When skipping grades, a person would be exposed to social elements meant for older people that are not meant for the person's psyche at their age.
1.8. Pro: Students are [less bored](https://blog.agradeahead.com/post/2017/11/28/gifted-child-skip-grade-pros-cons-skipping-grade/).
1.8.1. Pro: For schools that do not have separate programs for gifted students, moving them ahead a grade is an efficient way of providing more [mental stimulus](https://blog.agradeahead.com/post/2017/11/28/gifted-child-skip-grade-pros-cons-skipping-grade/).
1.8.1.1. Pro: The [research](http://www.nagc.org/sites/default/files/key%20reports/Developing%20Academic%20%20%20Acceleration_10-23-18.pdf) on acceleration is the most robust in gifted educational literature.
1.8.2. Con: The decision to advance a student to a higher grade may be an admission of the fact that classrooms shouldn’t strive to be as challenging and engaging as possible.
1.8.3. Pro: If students do not find school challenging enough, they may lose interest in class.
1.8.3.1. Pro: Teachers usually have to repeat concepts to ensure that all students can grasp them. In this process, students who are able to grasp these concepts faster are likely to lose interest in the lecture.
1.8.4. Pro: Students can start [acting out](https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/skipping-a-grade-pros-and-cons/) as a result of being bored at school.
1.8.4.1. Pro: [Unengaged students](https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2011/09/24/bored-students-misbehave/) misbehave, break rules, and seek fulfillments in less-than-acceptable ways.
1.8.4.2. Pro: [Winding up](https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/files/online_-_why_do_students_misbehave_pr.pdf) the teacher or getting the class to mess around will inevitably seem more interesting to the children than studying some dry and dull topics.
1.8.5. Con: If a [student](https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/files/online_-_why_do_students_misbehave_pr.pdf) has been taught that school is important, and learning is a vital tool for future life, they will put up with this feeling of boredom, without resorting to misbehaviour.
1.8.6. Con: [Prevalent student boredom](https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/files/online_-_why_do_students_misbehave_pr.pdf) calls for teachers to plan exciting and interesting lessons rather than letting students skip their classes.
1.8.6.1. Con: Things are not quite so easy for practising teachers, who have so many [other demands](https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/files/online_-_why_do_students_misbehave_pr.pdf) on their time.
1.8.6.1.1. Pro: In addition, there are the [pressures](https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/files/online_-_why_do_students_misbehave_pr.pdf) of getting through the curriculum and applying the national strategies.
1.9. Pro: Students should not have to get stuck in academia for too long in their life if they want to do more significant personal life changes sooner, like research or get a job.
1.9.1. Pro: Going to college sooner allows one to pay off tuition fees faster and with more chances, due to more potential work years.
1.9.2. Pro: Staying in place when a student should move ahead would lead to them being overworked, which leads to them [losing their purpose and productivity](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/16/culture-overwork-teachers-children-ghosts-schools). So if they can prove to be belonging to a higher grade, they should be able to to prevent overdoing learning what they already know.
1.9.2.1. Pro: This starts with lessening the current, unnecessary general education \(GE's\), [homework](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/high-school-homework-are-_n_1071973), and extracurricular requirements that confuse, detract, and lessen hope for students when achieving their personal, lifelong goals, so the education can be more of quality, retainment, and usability instead.
1.9.3. Con: Students at a change age do not have the maturity required to make significant personal life changes.
1.9.4. Pro: Many people are conflicted between higher level academics and other life changes occurring at the same time that get in the way of studies, like [getting married](https://oureverydaylife.com/reasons-women-delay-marriage-6378.html), [starting up a caree](https://www.supermoney.com/2015/09/going-back-to-college/)r, and [having children](https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/fertility/cb11-83.html). Skipping grades would put education chronologically before these events, so there would be fewer conflicts between them.