I know this is a touchy subject for some people and I don't want to stir up a hornet's nest, just get some seasoned explanations.

Can someone please explain how unschooling can actually work and the child still learn the basics they need to survive (reading, basic math, legible writing and readable spelling)? I'm asking because I like the concept (the child will learn when they are ready and through real life experience), but I've seen many children in my area who don't seem like they are going to get to basic proficiency, for example a 10-12 ish year old who can't read, another one whose handwriting is so terrible no one can read it and an 8-ish year old who doesn't seem to be able to add single digit numbers.

I'm just wondering how this is fair to the kids. Admittedly I think these particular kids tend to not get out much and could probably have a richer learning environment, but I also know that at least one of them spends hours daily watching TV and playing video games. When does it become not ok?

I'm really not trying to be judgemental about all of this, I just don't understand how this is supposed to end up balanced and it confuses the daylights out of me. I'm sure (or at the very least hoping really hard) that the parents of these specific children have their kids best interests at heart, I'm just not "getting" the logic behind it. I'm NOT attacking unschoolers or unschooling just using some examples I have seen to try to help people see where my confusion is coming from.