And yes, children need to learn how to 'function in society,' but as adult we get to make decisions that kids aren't always afforded in schools. I didn't think that self-loathing and being bullied was the part of society a 7 year-old needs to learn about.
I think this is so key!
If we adults are in an abusive situation or even something far more mild--a boss or a co-worker we don't like or work that isn't interesting--we can choose to leave. Kids have no such choices. They also haven't yet learned many of the coping skills necessary to deal with a bad situation. Is early elementary the time for that sort of learning? Before the frontal lobe is developed so that they have good critical thinking skills? I'm not at all persuaded!
And not to pick a fight here, but please realize that public school has very little in common with the real world. When are people segregated by age in the real world? When do you get told who to sit beside based on your last names? Unless you're in the military, these sorts of situations literally never happen. You associate with people based on shared interests and aims, not age. My engineer husband works and socializes almost exclusively with other engineers. I'm a SAHM with an advanced degree; guess who my friends mostly are? Even workplaces tend to be self-selecting.
Now, having people push you to underachieve? That does happen in the real world. But maybe if more people rebelled, that attitude and pressure would be less acceptable.
Let me just reiterate that I'm not in any way saying that public schools are bad. Just that the whole "school=society; homeschoolers=running away from society" argument doesn't float for me.
