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This article from the New York Times solicited a bunch of comments with a similar theme.

The article asked students to reply to the following question:

Would you like to be home-schooled, whether abroad or where you live now, or would you prefer to go to a traditional school? What do you think are the benefits and drawbacks to home-schooling?

No I would not like to be home-schooled. I don’t think you learn as much and get the skills needed to survive in the real world. One of the huge real world skills is being able to socialize and when you’re home-schooled you don’t really get any social activity. Therefore, you really wouldn’t have many friends and it would be hard to apply for a job and speak well at an interview.

— Jacob H

In my opinion, i would never turn to home schooling. When you are home schooled, you automaticly loose the whole social experience of school. In the real world you need to be social. Otherwise you’re going to get know where....I would never home school my child because I would be holding them back from friends and the social life they will need in the feature. I would never even consider home schooling.

— Macie P.

My best friend is home schooled and is doing good. I think that home schooling is not as good when it comes to the real world because it doesn’t give you the human interaction that you need to succeed in life with. it might better than public schools because they can learn what they want and not what they don’t want to learn.

— Gage T

In my opinion, I am not in favor of home schooling. I think that it is important for a student to attend a regular school. This is because it will allow them to become more prepared for the real world. For example, it will allow them to work either by themselves of within a group of people. It will teach students important social skills that they will need late in life, such as making friends or learning how to compromise with others....

— Mike D.

I believe that home-schooling doesn’t prepares children and teenagers for the ” Real world”. It doesn’t let children that chance to be in a social community with more kids or people. I think Home-schooling has his dos and dont’s.

— Ilenia P

I think home schooling can be benificial to the children but then its not always. Homeschooling wont really prepare the children for the world because they are not around many people and I think going to a traditional school is better because they will be more used to other people and the world or learning and with with others. I think the children would miss out on social skills and learning because all depending on the teacher depends on what the children learns.

— Eileen

I could go on, but they mostly all said the same essential thing: Homeschoolers don't have any friends and aren't prepared for the "real" world. I will have to let my children know when they get home from band, soccer practice, community college, babysitting, play practice, church, a friend's house, co-op, or choir practice.

I find it interesting how peer dependent most of the respondents sounded. I hope more homeschooled youth respond and set them straight.