It has been many years since parents in the United States won the right to homeschool their children in all fifty states. In August 2013, a report released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) showed that approximately 1,770,000 students were homeschooled in the United States in 2012, up from 1.5 million reported in 2007. This number represents 3.4% of the entire school age. population (U.S. Department of Education). However, are these 1,770,000 homeschoolers well socialized? Although critics of homeschooling believe that homeschoolers lack social skills, closer examinations have proven otherwise. Homeschoolers are well socialized because they are not influenced by peer pressure or bullying and because they spend more time with different people in a variety of situations than regular students. Homeschoolers are well socialized because they grow up without the social pressure that school life can bring. . Every day children are challenged academically and socially by their peers at school. Many of them are extremely harassed or bullied. The social phenomenon called bullying has resonated loudly for years. Thousands of children have experienced bullying at school and most of them have been traumatized by their peers. A child who is bullied may become a social misfit, a murderer, or may end up committing suicide. A recent study concluded that “bullies and bullies/victims are generally at greatest risk of engaging in violence, engaging in multiple types of substance use, and having academic problems” (Bradshaw). Homeschoolers do not suffer from bullying at home, but learn in a loving environment surrounded by their parents and siblings. They are free to express themselves, they are free... from the medium of paper...... the role of ethnicity and urbanity." Journal of Youth and Adolescent 42.2 (2013): 220+. Academic OneFile. Web 7 December 2013. Ray, Brian D. Ph.D. “Home Schooling Growing Up.” HSLDA.org Np, 20003. Web. 3 December 2013. “Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library: Gale, 2010. Opposing Views in Context Web. December 1, 2013. Minnesota Homeschoolers' Alliance "Homeschooled Students Are Well Socialized" Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context Web "School is out forever." The Wilson Quarterly 36.2 (2012): 64+ Opposing Viewpoints in Web Context, December 1, 2013. "Socialization, n." U.S. Department of Education: “Homeschooling Continues to Grow!” States News Service: 3 (2013). Academic OneFile. Network. December 1st. 2013.