Common side effects in homeschooled grownups

Homeschooling is a divisive political issue these days. Most arguments online happen because they don't differentiate college-graduated homeschoolers from the socially isolated kids of fundamentalist parents. We're not talking about the bad cases of homeschooling today. What are the side effects of a successful homeschooler?

Naivety. People who aren't homeschooled themselves say that their homeschooled colleagues are just more naive. It makes sense. If you can choose your friends, the teacher gives you an appropriate amount of attention (and is most likely your mom) then you're basically living in a bubble. More adept parents let their kids meet people in after-school activities, sports and just explore the world to combat this. And it's not entirely a bad thing in the first place. So what if you learn later in life that the world is a cruel place? Perhaps you're not traumatized so early and once you learn the social norms are actually much better off than the "normal" people. In any case, this is real and can get people in some trouble.

Social awkwardness is part myth part real life for many teenage homeschoolers. On one hand, there's research to suggest there's no problem, on the other there's a Reddit channel full of stories about how the social part can get bad. In reality, it just depends on the family and is a real problem for some. Again, find a social group for your children.

Speech difference is an interesting one. Perhaps you're a British person speaking like an American, perhaps you're using words that others don't know, or maybe your peers are talking in memes from pop culture that you know nothing about. This leads to social situations where you just can't connect with your peers very well. Like generally social awareness, this is learnable and things like an accent may actually be a benefit. Just something to be aware of.

That's all I've got! That doesn't mean homeschoolers don't have other problems. But a well-taught child that has had some social exposure probably won't have much more trouble as a grownup than these mentioned. Yet these are things to be aware of and they can all be solved by engaging with other kids in their own age group daily.

So go find a group for your child to join, make it two.

Are you reading this because you're afraid your family members aren't on board with your idea to homeschool? There is something you can try to get family members on board.