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At what age is it time to gain a concept of the "real world"? I don't think my six year old needs that concept yet. I don't think my eight year old needs that concept yet. My 14 year old....yeah. She's getting it pretty much every day even at a private Christian school. There isn't a whole lot of difference between the student populace at a Christian school and a public, really. There's bullying, catty-ness, drug usage....the main difference is how the faculty and staff are allowed to deal with it. I'm not saying public schools don't, but there are different methods permitted at private schools and religious schools.
There are plenty of kids who don't get "socialized" at public schools, whether it is by self imposed isolation or limiting their circle of friends. I'm thinking The Breakfast Club, which was such a profound (sounds strange, I know) movie to me when it came out my junior year in HS. Fact is even in public schools you often don't know what the "other" kids you don't socialize with are like or are going through.
I don't necessarily consider "sheltered" to be bad. I think it's part of being a parent, just as is introducing your child to the reality of life when they are ready. I want my kids to be sheltered from certain things and decide when they are ready emotionally and physically to deal with things that I find objectionable or potentially harmful.
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