The problem is, it's not so much about being "around others," so much as it's about being around others who aren't like them.
You make my point with that all-important qualifier: "... parents can involve their kids." IOW, the parents are controlling their kids' interactions, leaving the kids with little opportunity to deal with situations on their own.
Two problems with this. First: This is America, and it's nobody's business how parents choose to socialize their kids. In bygone days, it was not uncommon for kids in rural areas to grow up having never met anyone of a different race, religion or economic "class." There's no evidence that this was either harmful of helpful in forming their personalities or world views. Second: It's presumptious to make the blanket statement that homeschoolers are never exposed to "others" who "aren't like them." Where's the data or evidence supporting this opinion? Most homeschoolers are deeply involved in church activities that participate in missionary and community service work. The evidence I see is that homeschooled kids are able - at a much earlier age - to negotiate the complexities of the adult world. The idea that this makes them somehow deprived or defective is a blind prejudice. What we've come to know as "teen culture" didn't even exist before the 1950's, and there's no evidence that this new development in Western culture has made the world a better place.
I attended summer camp as a child and there were many kinds of kids there unlike myself. I also played soccer for 12 years in leagues which had nothing to do with government school. I also belonged to Indian Guides as a child. Although I did attend government school I had many opportunities to interact with other kids outside of school.
You make my point with that all-important qualifier: "... parents can involve their kids." IOW, the parents are controlling their kids' interactions, leaving the kids with little opportunity to deal with situations on their own.
Of course parents should control their childrens' interactions. Who else should control them? And even if parents are over protective, so what? Children will grow up someday and learn to interact on their own and hopefully not to repeat their parents' mistakes.
Heh heh... I could be a wrong as a football bat here, but I'm guessing that anybody who would talk as if that were a bad thing doesn't have any kids. There are rave parties, crack houses, jails and morgues full children who were given all the opportunities in the world to "deal with situations on their own." The idea of "children's rights" is mostly a Marxist construct bent on the destruction of the family.
Nam Vet