Opponents of homeschooling offer the following criticisms concerning socialization, pointing out that not all homeschooling families participate extensively in community activities:
* Interaction with peers and different social groups is essential to learning to live in society.
* Schools are a unique environment that provides students with necessary social networking skills that help them succeed in the workplace and in the politics of high-level business. Real life includes school as well.
* Homeschoolers tend to live in an insulated world where they aren't exposed to a variety of ideas, which can prevent any personal growth and independence later on in life.
* If children are insulated from unpleasant social situations, then they will be left unprepared when they are inevitably left to make their own way in the world. Children should be allowed to live and learn from their mistakes rather than sheltered from reality.
Some people oppose homeschooling because they fear that children will be exposed to an extremely narrow set of view-points and will lack the broad range of experiences gained through interaction in a larger group setting.