Terry, this argument has been tried for a number of years, including a cover article in TIME (? But is it good for America? they gasp).

Numerous?researchers have published on the subject of homeschoolers and civic involvement. Christian Smith at UNC has written on the high levels of community engagement among homeschooling parents, for example, and Brian Ray at the National Home Education Research Institute found recent graduates of home education more than two and a half times more likely to vote and fourteen times more likely to work with a political cause or campaign than their peers.? You can ask any legislator on Jones Street for verification that homeschoolers are interested?and involved in the process of citizenship.?

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The Canadian sociologist Bruce Arai deals with the subject at length, pointing out

In school, citizenship education emphasizes history, geography and social studies lessons, with some limited participation in extra-curricular activities both inside and outside the school. ? For homeschoolers, participation in the public sphere is a more important component of their education. They are much more involved in things like volunteer work than schooled children, which also further offsets socialization criticisms.

He concludes,

Schooling is not an antidote to ethical servility, and policies surrounding the compulsory nature of school should be re-examined in light of this. Specifically, the need to educate all children to be good citizens has always been a cornerstone of mandatory schooling policies, so if these policies are to be retained, they need to account for the fact that children can become good citizens without going to school.

Ultimately the question becomes a matter of philosophy — do you believe the government should be in charge of indoctrinating all children, or do you believe that parents have the ultimate right and responsibility to direct their upbringing? Obviously home educators would choose the latter, and data seems to confirm their decision.