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
You are most welcome, one of my weakest points, -- being able to say what I am trying to say without sounding uncivil.