I teach physics and computer science at a large high school. I have taught several homeschooled kids whose parents sent them to regular high school for whatever reason. They usually do quite well and I have never had any problems. This is to be expected - students who do well typically have parents who are engaged in their children's educations. This helps to explain the constantly above average test scores of homeschooled kids. If you norm out all the kids of unengaged parents from the general school population then homeschooled kids would be about average. I wonder how many unschooled kids grow up to be doctors, engineers, managers, executives, lawyers, teachers, nurses, researchers, pilots, biochemists, etc.?? My guess is not many. Finally, for those who are philosophically opposed to formal schooling, I have this question: Think of all the countries in the world that are wealthy, have high standards of living and high quality of life for the overwhelming majorities of their citizens, economic mobility, and in short are places people want to live. How many of them do NOT have compulsory, public education?

As a parent and an IT manager I would LOVE an option to receive filtered access from my ISP. Once it enters your house there is nothing you can do if your kid or his friends are determined and clever. I know there are small, private ISPs that provide filtered internet but why don't the big ones like Verizon, Cox, etc. have it as an option? I don't want to pay Integrity or someone else like that on top of my normal DSL bill.