[A girl writes in saying she is homeschooled, oppressed and isolated by her parents, and has begun cutting herself from anger and depression.]

What a bunch of #$%$!!!! This is obviously a contrived story. I smell NEA all over this! I know HUNDREDS of homeschool kids (including mine), and they are ALL more self-assured, better educated, and effective at critical thinking than their counterparts. They win academic scholorships at a RIDICULOUS rate compared to children "educated" in the failed public school system.

I think we should send this "poor girl" to a public school where she can learn to text in class, take drugs, drink like a fish, and live a sexually exploratory life by the time she is 14 years old (sorry, probably a little late here). Then she can graduate as a functionally illiterate, emotionally used up 18 year-old and spend the next 30 years "searching for herself" like all her peers!

If this is a real story, I would be shocked. Nice try.