My parents moved my sister and I three weeks before the end of her 8th grade year of junior high and my 10th grade year of high school. There were many factors involved, for example:
-We had been in the same school system, with the same friends since kindergarten
-We moved from multiracial large suburbia to small single race country town where styles and attitudes were very different
- We left three weeks before the end of the school year (very difficult timing), so missed all the parties, award ceremonies, yearbook signings that we'd waited all year for
- My sister was extroverted and I was introverted.
- We were somewhat enticed by the possibility and suggestion that we might be able to have a horse if we moved and join 4H and raise animals (none of which ever came remotely close to happening).
Any guesses as to what happened?
- She began high school in the new town and flourished. I began 11th grade in the new high school, a very sad and depressed teen.
- She went to college locally and lived within commuting distance for the rest of my parents' lives. I fled two weeks after graduating high school to a city far, far away and live there today.
- She kept in contact with friends from the new high school and never saw her friends from the first town again. I kept in contact with, and regularly visit, my original childhood friends from the first town, and never see anyone from the second town.
I suffered and grieved for many years because of that move -- BUT hard times taught me compassion and understanding and I became a much, much stronger person because of it. And I was able to later recognize that if not for that move, so many wonderful people and experiences would not have happened. The bad ultimately created the good and resulted in a wonderful life. My sister, on the other hand, who transitioned easily, seemed to have an easier life, but the lack of hardship created a host of other issues that she struggles with today.
So two different experiences, not simply dependent upon age. Timing, location, environment and personality all played a very big role. Why don't you ask your kids how they feel? I could have articulated my feelings, and did, but no one listened. Or no one believed me and thought I would feel differently once we moved. Ask and listen carefully.
In the interests of fairness, I should point out that had my parents waited until after we graduated high school, and then moved, while much trauma would have been avoided, that would also have been very jarring. Now that I'm a parent myself, keeping my family unit intact and connected, loving and trusting, trumps all else, regardless of where we live.
Hopefully that is helpful. It just really, really depends upon who the kids are and what they are sensitive to. It could be a wonderful thing and they could thrive, or they could begin a period of very, very difficult transition. Ask!