The homeschool mom has heard it about 65 times. The homeschool teen about 37. What about socialization?

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Many judges, researchers, parents, certified teachers, and the media still have trouble understanding how a child can go through life not in institutional schools and still be "well adjusted." Professor Dennis Evans was once very pointed, and possibly ignorant, when he wrote about homeschooling:

       The isolation implicit in home teaching is anathema to socialization and citizenship. It is a rejection of community and makes the home‑schooler the captive of the orthodoxies of the parents.[i]

After about 30 years of research on the social, emotional, and psychological development of the home educated, what do we know? Professor Richard Medlin offers us a synthesis of this research.[ii]

In good form, Medlin begins with a definition: "Socialization may be defined as the process by which a child acquires 'the skills, behavior patterns, values, and motivations needed for competent functioning in the culture in which the child is growing up' ..." (p. 285). This definition is clear and not highly technical. It does not require that an adult be "normal" or "typical." Further, the researcher points out that it is almost universally acknowledged that parents have a very important role in the healthy socialization of children.

Dr. Medlin first looked at what homeschool parents and homeschool children think about the children's social skills. "Taken together, these studies suggest that homeschooling parents believe their children's social skills are at least as good as those of other children, and perhaps better. What homeschooled children think about their own social skills is less clear" (p. 288).

Next, he considered studies on emotional intelligence, social relationships, problem behaviors, and life satisfaction. He summarized these investigations as follows:

This research paints a very favorable picture of homeschooled children. Compared to children attending conventional schools, they apparently have higher quality relationships both with close friends and with parents and other adults. They are happy, optimistic, satisfied with their lives, and have a positive attitude about themselves and about being homeschooled. As adolescents, they show a strong sense of social responsibility. They experience less stress and emotional turmoil and exhibit fewer problem behaviors than their peers. (p. 290).

Researcher Medlin found a very small body of research on the moral and spiritual development of the homeschooled. He commented this way:

      Although meager, this research suggests that homeschooled children's moral reasoning is at least as advanced as that of other children. Homeschooled children may be more likely to act unselfishly than children attending conventional schools. As adolescents and adults, homeschooled children prove less likely than others to engage in illegal and antisocial behavior. (p. 291-2)

Finally, Dr. Medlin considered a very small group of studies on social adjustment in college and adulthood. Here he concluded the following:

These (too) few studies suggest that homeschooled students adjust well to college and are at least as socially involved as others, though they may be less self- confident at first. Compared to college students who attended conventional schools, they are more open to new experiences, a trait characterized by "intellectual curiosity" and a "readiness to re-examine one's own values and those of authority figures" ..." (p. 292)

With the conservative language of a researcher, Dr. Medlin wraps up his review of research. He writes the following:

      Are homeschooled children acquiring the "skills, behavior patterns, values, and motivations" they need to function competently as members of society ...? And the answer to that question, based on three decades of research on homeschooling, is clearly yes. Recent research, like that reviewed earlier ..., gives every indication that the socialization experiences homeschooled children receive are more than adequate. In fact, some indicators-quality of friendships during childhood, infrequency of behavior problems during adolescence, openness to new experiences in college, civic involvement in adulthood-suggest that the kind of socialization experiences homeschooled children receive may be more advantageous than those of children who attend conventional schools. (p. 293)

So far, the claims and worries of people like professor Evans - that parent-led home-based education will damage a child's social development and make him a ruined citizen - are far from empirically based. In fact, perhaps homeschooling will enhance stronger social skills and more beneficial citizen behavior.

--Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.

National Home Education Research Institute

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Endnotes:

[i] E

vans, Dennis L. (2003, September 2). Home is no place for school. Retrieved February 3, 2012 from http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-09-02-oppose_x.htm

[ii] Medlin, Richard G. (2013). Homeschooling and the question of socialization revisited. Peabody Journal of Education, 88(3), 284-297.