Does repeating a grade help or hurt?

I had to repeat a grade and it really set me back. I wasn’t able to graduate with my class, which made me feel behind and question why I should even bother. The only reason I didn’t drop out and get my GED was because I was forced to stay in school. Looking back, I feel like repeating the grade did more harm than good.

If you had to repeat a grade, there must have been a reason. You can’t move forward if you’re that far behind, it wouldn’t be fair to you or your classmates. Maybe you fell behind earlier and didn’t put in the effort to catch up? Repeating was probably your only chance to make up for it. If you stayed behind in the class, it wouldn’t just hurt you but also slow down others who were ready to move forward. It’s not always just about you—it was probably a tough choice, but maybe it was for the best.

@lucas
The problem is that I never had another chance to get back on track and graduate when I was supposed to. Getting a GED seemed like my only option at that point.

Meech said:
@lucas
The problem is that I never had another chance to get back on track and graduate when I was supposed to. Getting a GED seemed like my only option at that point.

What does ‘on time’ even mean? Are you just upset because you didn’t follow some timeline made up by people who don’t even know you? Look, I get that you felt like you didn’t have a choice, maybe others around you didn’t help the situation, I don’t know. But life doesn’t always go by a perfect schedule. Some people need more time and that’s fine. It sucks you felt like it wasn’t okay for you to take that extra time.

@lindah
I was supposed to graduate a year earlier, but because I couldn’t, I went for the GED so I wouldn’t have to wait even longer.

Meech said:
@lindah
I was supposed to graduate a year earlier, but because I couldn’t, I went for the GED so I wouldn’t have to wait even longer.

There’s no such thing as being late when it comes to life milestones. It’s all about how you look at it.

Meech said:
@lindah
I was supposed to graduate a year earlier, but because I couldn’t, I went for the GED so I wouldn’t have to wait even longer.

You aren’t ‘supposed’ to graduate until you’ve actually learned the material.

@SkillDeveloper2
If you never had to repeat a year, you wouldn’t understand what it feels like.

Meech said:
@SkillDeveloper2
If you never had to repeat a year, you wouldn’t understand what it feels like.

I do get it. A close friend of mine was held back in school, and it affected him deeply. He always thought that being held back was the reason for a lot of his life’s struggles, but the truth is that it wasn’t just about that. Sometimes there are deeper issues at play. I hope you can find peace with your experience.

This depends on the age. Repeating a grade in kindergarten is way different from having to repeat as an older student.

Most academic research agrees that repeating grades doesn’t really help in the long term.

TeacherTina said:
Most academic research agrees that repeating grades doesn’t really help in the long term.

Yeah, I’ve seen that play out in my own life.