Duke University researchers examined records for 79,000 middle school students in 334 North Carolina middle schools. They found that in schools with a high number of students who were held back or old for their grade, there were more suspensions, substance abuse problems, fights, and classroom disruptions.
“If 20 percent of children in seventh grade were older than their peers, for example, the chance that other students would commit an infraction or be suspended increased by 200 percent,” according to an article about the study.
The researchers note, “an unexpected but noteworthy finding is that students who are in the groups least likely to engage in misbehavior are most susceptible to the potential negative peer influence of retained and older peers.”
