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Not wanting one's children in the world is not the same as thinking that one is too good for others. Or am I misunderstanding you? I don't know about you, but my children don't come out of the womb knowing right from wrong and having the ability to stand up for what is right. And putting them right smack dab in the middle of people who aren't acting as they should, isn't always the best way to teach those skills. Many children, when immersed in negative behavior, will pick it right up. Why? Because they are young and very impressionable. So, if a parent wants to take time (outside of the "world") to teach his or her child how to do what is right when others are doing wrong, what is the problem with that? If the parents teach this for 18 years by controlling who the child hangs out with, so what? Does this mean that the parent thinks his family is too good for the rest of the "world"? I don't think so. It just means that the parent is choosing a different way of teaching how to do what's right when others are doing wrong than the parent who sends his child off to school to learn those things there.

I am not sure you are misunderstanding me. I do not have intent to impugn homeschooling. I think parents have the right to choose the method of educating their children. They know the children's specific needs better than anyone.

I do know personally some who do homeschool simply because their religious convictions tell them that is the method to keep their children from being exposed to the worldly life. I do literally mean a total and complete shielding, say like visiting at friends/relatives home and there is a television on and a big production is made over that 'sin'. I do not object, that is their choice. However, completely shielding a child to what is literally in this world can be just as harmful when their innocence gets destroyed and they have not developed their own personal coping skills to not get lost in this world. So no I am not advocating an immersion and full blown exposure of the worldly ways for any child at any age. Unfortunately too much of the worldly ways are on display at every turn and cannot be ignored as though it does not exist.

I raised my children with the idea that they were responsible for learning and using their God-given abilities to the best of their ability.... My oldest is going on 26, has a good job, my middle one at 22, is starting second year of grad school in a PhD program.... my concern with that is what kind of jobs are available in his area of research. My youngest is not sure yet at 19 what to be or do, so, I have not yet completed my responsibility as a parent.

I think I understand where you're coming from now. And I agree with you that each person is entitled to do what he or she wants.

My children are not the "sheltered" type in the way that you're describing. I don't know of anyone like you describe, but I do hear people talk about those people a lot. :-) My children hang out with kids from public school (and private school) and they get jobs when they're 14 or 15. They also take college classes in high school. But, I'm happy to wait until the teen years to send them off into the "world." They've done fine so far and I expect them to continue to do well. I do think that if some of my children had gone to public school during their elementary years that they would not have been able to go against the crowd. They weren't the kind of kids who were strong enough for that. I have others that would have done fine, but why mess with a good thing? :-)

I've appreciated the civil "back-and-forth" and I think I understand you now.

Candi