I did not catch the program so if this concern was previously addressed, I apologize. As a criminal defense attorney, I would strongly advise against holding a kid back. The age cut off of eighteen is used to differentiate whether criminal cases are filed in adult or juvenile court.
I recently saw a situation where a group of highschoolers vandalized some property. The group contained mostly 17 year olds but one older kid who was 18. The 17 year olds were charged in the juvenile system where there are several options to keep such things off the kid's record. The 18 year old was charged and convicted with a felony. The prosecutor argued that the increased penalty was justified because he was the leader of the group.
This doesn't even get into the problems that can occur with 19 year old male students sharing the halls with 14 year old female students in a 9-12 high school.
Of course no one is thinking about this stuff when their kid is five but it is something to consider.
