I have met a number of children who have been home-schooled all across the country including Alaska. Some were failing in the "system" and parents pulled them out; some had disabilities that simply were not being addressed in the classroom (a whole other discussion); some parents had chosen home schooling for religious reasons.
The one (and only) drawback I saw in almost every situation was a lack of social skills. Some acted like perfect little adults; all had difficulty interacting with other children. This was especially true of the children home schooled for religious reasons. They literally never interacted with anyone outside their parent's chosen world.
I am not sure how that plays out in their adult lives. But if education is the only issue, I suspect they are well educated.



Not sure what this is all about:
"NEVER before have our children NOT wanted to learn as they do not want to learn at present. NEVER before has our young population been so dumbed down, so controlled, so apathetic.....and it's happening because, from the moment of their birth, they are put on that Conveyer Belt of Life, *by their parents*...

We have abused Motherhood. We have removed Femininity. We have stolen the parents from the children and stuck them inside Factory Farms of Edukashon, some so big that the teachers don't even know the names of the children.

Children go to school with knives, to protect themselves! They live their lives in hostile situations, 5 days a week, whilst having to learn things they hate! They get detention, ridicule, told off, humiliated, verbally abused, bullied, kicked....on and on .....and what do 'the parents' say?

"Oh, school has always been like that. That's life, that's the way it is and you have to toughen up, kid!"

So the kids toughened up, and they toughened out. They've lost compassion, kindness, sweetness....They buy books of the best 'put downs' to humiliate each other, they are cruel and rude and cranky...

But most of all, MOST of all, they are deeply, DEEPLY unhappy!"

At least in Maine and Jackson Heights, NY the above is not the norm. There are and always will be some kids who do not fit in . That is for a variety of reasons - some are too bright and get bored; some are not bright enough and get lost; some have parents who are simply not involved. But DEEPLY unhappy?

Not wanting to learn??? Really? Colleges here have to turn away students. Even community colleges are busting at the seams. Trade schools are packed.

I know a lot of kids who have no direction. I know many who have quit school or graduated and do nothing. None of them are dumb. I know none who have been dumbed down. The math I took in high school, they get in grammar school. Sciences are taught in the 6th and 7th grade that I took in college. Every kid I know can out perform me on a computer and can fill you in on every new electronic gizmo out there. That includes the ones who have dropped out of high school.

I suspect the problem described is money rather than education. But that too is another discussion. But the claim that children today are all unhappy? That's simply nonsense. Apathetic? Did you not see how involved young people were in tha last US election? Not the usual Young Republicans Club but kids across every racial, cultural and economic spectrum.Motherhood abused? Check the laws protecting both mother and father in the workplace during and after pregnancy. Removed Femininity? Huh? By encouraging young women to use their minds?

I suspect that some here have had a verybad experience in school. I went to Catholic schools for 12 years and endured physical punishment but oddly enough was always encouraged to think outside the box. Indoctrinated?

It is a role of society to get people to conform to certain norms in order for the society to function for the benefit of most. School works towards that goal. Students learn to read and write; they also learn to be clean, balance a check book, drive a car, that work is a good thing if you plan on supporting yourself and welfare is an option if you don't (but not the best option), that our country is good (Be it the US, China, Japan, whatever).

I wonder if these unhappy children are genuinely unhappy or simply frustrated by the current economy. Or are they enduring the normal problems of adolescence? Are the knife bearers the exception or the rule? Is your glass always half empty?