Well, in some cases and some places, I think kids *are* homeschooled to shield them from "a certain element" as they will say, and I don't think this is necessarily a good thing. When this shielding has at its root racism or classism, the so-called "white flight" in action, I think it is not healthy. Monolithic homeschooling of that sort is incredibly distasteful to me, though I recognize the rights of the parents to practice it.
But in our case, coming from a white-bread-and-mayo suburb of middle-to-upper class families, we see a lot more racial and economic diversity in our homeschool group than DS6 saw in public school. So luckily for me, this is one liberal dilemma I don't have to guilt myself with.
I do think parents who take it upon themselves to educate their kids *should* make an effort to expose the kids to a wide variety of people and opportunities (just as I think schools should do the same for kids within their walls), but I recognize their right to stick to monolithic views if that's what they prefer. Unfortunately, I do not rule the world.
Obviously I agree with Dr. Laura's main point that homeschooled kids are not all maladjusted serial killers waiting to happen. Overall, HSed kids are at least as socially capable as their traditionally schooled peers. She's clearly right about that!
Thanks for sharing, OH-Oma.
