[oneijoe]

Topnotch,
That is not how the new rule works. You are still capable of holding children back. In my opinion it will still happen and in many cases should happen. However, the only thing that changes is they will not be able to compete in athletics during a hold back year. So they can play in 6th grade hold back in 6th grade and not compete that year and then resume all activities in 7th grade. The child still has the extra year to mature and develop, however they just won't be competing in the same grade for 2 years.

Yes. And objectively, it is more "fair" considering that fairness should extend to the -other- boys also. It's not right to have a big 12-13 y/o 6th grader compete with younger boys who are smaller and less physically mature. None of this is about high school. It's not nearly as big a difference later on at the varsity level.