Apparently Children Born In This Month Are The Smartest

You may have ever noticed that a load of your friends have birthdays in September - maybe you even do. That's because (and we're sorry to break this to you), a lot of kids were conceived around Christmas. Which means your parents you know...yeah. Sorry!

What you may not know, though, is that the kids born in September are actually smarter than their peers. According to a study posted in The National Bureau of Economic Research entitled "School Starting Age and Cognitive Development" in 2017, children born in September are likely to be more "highly intelligent" than other children.

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But don't get too smug - it's not really for any reason other than the fact that September babies tend to be the oldest in their school year, and therefore, have an extra year do develop physically and mentally compared to their younger peers. Children who are relatively older at school will do better than their classmates, but it's just because their brains are more developed and they've had more time to learn to read and write.

The huge study took place in Florida with 1.2 million students between 6 and 15 years of age participating. Those born in September were found to have higher cumulative average scores in school every year, and it is believed that the additional up to 12 months for social, cognitive and emotional development prior to entering school played a role.

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Not only are kids born in September allegedly smarter than their peers, but they are also more mature acting than younger classmates, less attached to their parents, and more able to handle academics and relate to others. All of these advantages combine to give them an advantage over their other classmates - they even have a lower rate of juvenile crime.

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Of course, there are many contributing factors to a child's intelligence and aptitude - like background, home life, etc. But when they're born and when they enter school tends to play a role, giving them a perhaps unfair advantage over their younger friends. Of course, you shouldn't let it make kids lazy - it's all to do with how much time they have to learn, but they still need to put in the work!

Topics: Kids

Marianne Eloise

Marianne writes about TV, film and internet culture for Nylon, VICE, The Guardian, Vulture, Time Out and more. She was previously a staff writer at Dazed.