The homeschooled kids we know are great...we know them from Scouts and from sports (in our district homeschooled/cyber schooled kids participate in school activities like sports/plays/band)...the Duggars never left the homestead (unless it was a well planned road trip).
What is funny (to me) the polar opposites of Kate (of Jon and Kate Plus Eight)...shrill, hyper, sarcastic (and my criticism of her...waaay to critical and bossing of Jon) and Michelle (of Duggar fame) who is spacy calm and talks in such a monotone...Somewhere between these two mommyistas the rest of us fall...(and I do mean fall...my house is boobytrapped most of the time).
We risk life and limb walking through our house, too ... and that was before the dog arrived to trip us with her great bony legs.
I agree that when people put their lives on TV, it’s legitimate to observe that one thinks there are better ways to do things. However, I don’t think that you, or anyone with sense, would say they’d rather not have been born than grow up healthy, well-educated, well-fed, well-dressed, and surrounded by a loving family, but without some of the options (in childhood) that you and I feel comfortable making available.