Redshirting

I was reading another mommy blog, Suburbian Turmoil and she wrote a post about private school kindergarten. Some parents are holding their children back so they are older in kindergarten (6 or 7 years old) with the intent that their child will be bigger, smarter, stronger when they get to junior high and high school. This is called redshirting. As a recap of her blog, parents are sending their child to public school kindergarten at age 5-6 and then sending them to private school kindergarten the next year in the hopes that their child will have a "leg up". At some schools the age gap is 2 years (5-7 year olds) in kindergarten with almost 50% of the kids in the older age group. This sets up the possibility that your 13 year old daughter is in 8th grade with boys that can drive. Or some kids being 20 years old when they graduate from high school. I had never heard of this phenomenon, has anyone else? I wonder what the world is coming to, when parents think it is a good idea to hold their child back in kindergarten just so there is the possibility that their kid is bigger and stronger for high school sports and possibly smarter academically. With more than 50% of children in a class being older, it perpetuates the problem as parents of younger kids consider holding back also just so their kid isn't the youngest in the class. Kids have hard enough time in school making friends and learning the ways of human socialization to throw in the 2 year age gaps could compound all sorts of awkward situations you encounter in school. What do you think, are you as appalled by this practice as I am? Have you ever heard of redshirting? Whatever happened to the way things were when we were kids?