<p>“Rarely does rushing through ‘normal’ stages of development turn out well.”</p>
<p>First, if by “normal stages”, you mean going to high school at the typical age and such, there is no research I’ve seen supporting your claim. If you have any, please share. Mind you, I am not saying it might not be the case, but merely that we researched this topic before allowing our son to go the route he picked and the research very much supported the notion that those allowed to accelerate, even radically, fared better academically, in career happiness, in marital happiness (as measured by both divorce rate and self-evaluation), etc. Perhaps you have found more recent research to the contrary?</p>
<p>Second, you are saying these students are rushing through normal stages as if it is something you can really stop and that’s like saying you can stop a kid who is growing very tall for their age to stop growing (well, perhaps you could using some sort of hormone, but would that truly be in the child’s best interest?).</p>
<p>My hope is also that it doesn’t come crashing down on him at some point, of course, but how many people who go to college at 18 commit suicide, have nervous breakdowns, etc? Again, I would say people should worry about the “typical age college population” in equal measure at a minimum (especially as there are so many more such people).</p>