This is a plea to all of you out there who make the choice to home-school your kids: Please make sure to socialize your children with other children and not just you and his siblings!

At this time of year, I do a lot of All-State audition coaching, and one thing that stands out to me is the home-school kids who have obviously not spent a great deal of time with anyone other than parents and siblings. The lack of social skills in some of these kids is outstanding (not to mention the lack of penmanship and spelling skills, although I think that's universal and not just them...come on, guys...spelling IS important). Recently, I actually had an eighteen-year-old boy refer to his mother as "mommy" and ask her (as she sat in on the lessons I had with him and his siblings) if the song I picked was okay. He even tried to sit next to her and lean his head on her, like a little kid, but she nipped that one in the bud. Thank heavens.

Really? Seriously? Did that actually happen?

Sadly, yes.

This is not to say that all home-schoolers are like that. I've taught a ton of them and some are very well-adjusted and have lots of friends and interests and don't have huge mommy issues. I'm pretty sure that's the goal of all parents, but you can't just remove a kid from all situations with other kids and have him turn out okay. I swear, I've known a lot of kids who have been home-schooled and deprived of the company of other, non-related kids, and not one of them was normal. And by normal, I mean possessing the social skills necessary to make it through life without needing a blankie in the tenth grade (that one happened, too).

Please. Please. Don't make your kid into some sort of hyper-educated weirdo with no idea of how to navigate in the real world, because there is going to come a time when he is forced out there, and the consequences will be mighty unpleasant for everyone who is involved.

Or he will just move to my town and become a scientist, and then we'll all be in trouble.