The Best Response I Have Read In Answer To This ?

Twice this week it has come up in conversation that home educated children will possibly lack the ability to deal with difficult people because they aren't in the public school system, I tend to keep a pretty low key response when confronted with or asked pointedly this question. So here is the question, Children who grow up under the guidance of the most gentle, patient, loving and inspiring parents without being exposed to teachers who are strict, ineffective, jerks, play favorites, or use coercive methods may not learn how to deal with those types of people before entering the workforce & may be at a disadvantage. I read a good response in a book today so I thought I would share the reader's digest version, This is one of the anti-homeschooling arguments that I find most distressing and frustrating, because it draws a fallacious parallel between school situations and professional situations. Exposing a child to bullies, jerks, etc. (whether students or teachers) doesn't teach them how to stand up to those people or work with those people -- it teaches them to be victims, to keep quiet when they should speak up, or to tolerate abuse or idiocy they shouldn't tolerate. Unlike with a job situation, where you can walk out if you are being treated badly, a child doesn't have the power or freedom to walk away from a school situation. They don't choose their school like an adult chooses a job. They aren't federally mandated to spend x hours a day, x days a year in a job. In a professional/business setting, the adult has a significantly greater degree of power than a student. It's that power imbalance that makes a negative school situation so harmful. Mistreatment at school isn't comparable with dealing with tough bosses, it's much more comparable to domestic violence in its emotional effects.