Obviously, you are correct. I was homeschooled my entire school career, and am living proof of the ineffectiveness of the system. While others my age feel free to type LYKE THIS or lyke omg brad pit is soooooo hott, I am burdened with the need to type, spell, and punctuate properly, because I can. I stupidly pushed myself in studying for the SAT, ending up with a score of 1312 instead of the 1100 or so required for admissions. I guess they've taken pity on me at college, too: my professors have so far given me nothing but (easy, no doubt) A's, and the administration has allowed me to qualify for three scholarships, one given only to one male and one female student-athlete per semester.

The effectiveness of homeschooling is dependent entirely upon the parents. My parents enrolled me in an excellent program (A Beka Video School) and never let me get away with shirking the requirements. I am in my sophomore year of college and have so far not encountered a class as difficult as the ones I took when homeschooled. One of my older friends, in studying for her GRE, asked me to help her study because I knew how to pronounce the words (such as "salubrious") on her word list and she did not. Clearly an example of homeschooling's failure.

As for the social repression, I can only say that, if I had to choose, I would far rather have a good education under my belt than social opportunities--which, for my brother and I, were provided in the form of church, Boy Scouts, and forums such as this one.

LaZorra