DD passed her kick boxing grading, but I have just recieved a call to say she hasn't and needs to return the belt/certificate!?!?

[justicedestiny]

DD did her purple belt (I believe it's something like her 7th belt) grading today and she gets assessed by 5 of the instructors on different things, they fill out the sheet, at the end, the main instructor adds up the points on the sheet and says if they have passed/failed. She was told she had passed like all the other times, was given her certificate and belt and walked home (it's at the end of our road) we celebrated with a take away and was all smiles all around. About an hour ago, I received a call from the instructor that isn't her instructor but goes through the sheets, etc. and adds their names to the correct board after gradings, etc. says unfortunately she didn't actually reach the points needed for the grading and it was just a mathematical error and she needs to return the belt and certificate and she will stay at the previous belt until the next grading. I am horrified! She is 11 and that's quite young really... She is very upset!

AIBU to think they should check their maths if it's that close before telling her!? I am really quite shocked.

TBH I think it would be a bit unreasonable to make a formal complaint in this situation. Yes I know the club made a mistake but it wasn't malicious it was a mistake.

I think the fair solution would be to offer a retest if your daughter was only a few points off the grading but honestly I don't think you should just keep the belt it is supposed to be earned and unfortunately if your daughter didn't amass the number of points needed then she didn't earn the belt fairly.

Also so if your daughter keeps the belt then surely all of the other kids who didn't quite make the grade should get their belts as well?

To all the people saying it was their mistake keep it surely the point is that the belt is supposed to be earned by reaching the correct grade not by pouncing on a mistake just so your child doesn't get upset surely part of sport is dealing with the ups and downs and showing your child the correct way to deal with success as well as disappointment and that every situation can't be solved by making kicking up a fuss and making a complaint!

My children moved karate club (we moved house) and although they had achieved brown belts we didn't want them to start again because of the house move.

We spoke to the new club who allowed them to wear their brown belts but stood with the white belts for the first lesson. It was so the new club could assess them - they were stricter which I liked in terms of foot placement/level of arm etc and they are on a fast track system where they are graded internally by the club.

Now they are at purple belt internally and are about to level up to their current brown belt. So it doesn't always go that they lose their belt level. The katas are ever so slightly different so they just needed to tweak them.

But as a parent of a child told that they belt needed to be handed back after a grading I would be furious. I would want to know where she lost marks and could they assess her internally without the humiliation of losing the new belt.

As said above I don't see how the result was changed after, she appeared to perform well and was awarded the belt but only after checking the points did she fail. Very strange.

Mistakes happen, but it doesn't say much about the gradings and the instructors if the judges don't even know the level of the students in front of them and need to recount marks to know if they fail or pass

The scenario actually makes me think the instructors did know the levels, their students and actually care about the grades rather than just the money enough to upset a mother of a kid. As I imagine the grading was handled by multiple instructors, each one giving a score, and the overall pass being related to the combination of the scores. The combination was added up wrong so award was given, and the instructors after seeing who got what belts at the end, went "what? she wasn't safe/skilled enough for the belt, how did that happen?" And the mistake was found.

We don't actually know the scenario of course, but how it could happen is certainly possible without the instructors being in any way bad.

I cannot imagine why you'd be furious about handing back a belt, mistakes happen, and by 11 I can't imagine saying anything else but that, sure you have to deal with some upset, but it would be the same upset they would've had from failing without the mistake - and they did -fail- need some extra time working towards.

Talk to her actual instructor first and see what they say.

Did you get anywhere with this OP?

I think it's their error so should be left.

If a wrong call is made in football they don't take the win away after the game!

I own a karate club and if this occurred at a grading of ours we would honour the belt (assuming it's just a small difference and not the case that they can't do the moves competently) and just make extra sure they are ready for their next grading. Adults you could probably explain to but an 11 year old, poor thing. Plus, as a club owner and instructor I wouldn't want to embarrass my clubs reputation with an error like that.