[apsec112]

Isolating kids is bad, but modern schools are a very weird, artificial (and often unpleasant) social environment. Many of the social skills you learn in them are useless or even harmful:

http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html

Also, homeschooling doesn't mean you can only learn from your parents. You can use any other resource that's available to you.

[mwcampbell]

From the pg essay you linked:

> Nor, as far as I can tell, is the problem so bad in most other countries.

So why is this a distinctly American problem? If we understand the answer to that question, might that help us solve the problem?

[gowld]

It's not. Don't trust someone with no relevant knowledge about the world telling you that the only place he has experience with is exceptional compared to the rest of the world.