I'm sorry, I don't agree with that. My husband and I decided to homeschool our children after elementary school. Last year, on a field trip with my fourth grader, I was absolutely amazed and appalled at the mean, vindictive, bullying of the students in his class. The girls as well as the boys were out of control. I witnessed one child tell my son not to speak to him or he would hit him. When I addressed his behavior, he lied to me and the teacher.
I spoke to the teachers about it. My son was bullied quite a lot. The teacher said she'd sent kids to the office, had the counselor in to talk to the kids, and tried to contact the parents. The parents of the worse students didn't return phone calls, come to conferences, or respond to notes. In talking to the teachers I learned fifth grade was even worse. Needless to say, I pulled my son early.
My point is, there are parents out there who are concerned about their children and those that aren't. I know from experience you can't be with your kids all the time, and they will make poor choices. They must be disciplined and taught not to do these things. My concern is the mean-spirited nature of a lot of kids and the way they go about tearing others down when they get in their way or feel they have been slighted.
"My son was bullied quite a lot."
My son's school spent a week on "anti-bullying", which included reading and doing a book report with a homosexual theme (that is the real agenda of the anti-bullying campaign).
I had a meeting with the teacher over the book and she tried to blow it off as being nothing and that the "anti-bullying" was very important. I told her I taught my son there were only two things he needs to know about bullies, that is, if he's bullied to haul off and knock the tar out of the bully. The other thing was if I ever heard he bullied anyone I'd knock his block off.