Many parents worry about negative influences in a traditional high school. From issues with bullying and peer pressure to alcohol and drug use, sexual activity and teen pregnancy, the challenges the average high-schooler deals with on a daily basis are well documented. The National Center for Education Statistics surveyed home-schooling parents in 2003 and found concerns about school environment a primary concern for 88 percent of these families. Home schooling gives families more control over their teen's environment, while social opportunities are still widely available through community and church groups, volunteer opportunities, special-interest clubs and home school organizations.
Home-schooled students typically do well on standardized tests and other traditional measures of academic achievement. A 2008 study commissioned by the Home School Legal Defense Association included almost 12,000 home-schooled students from all 50 states and 15 independent testing agencies who took three well-known standardized achievement tests: the California Achievement Test, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Stanford Achievement Test. On average, home-schooled students scored at the 89th percentile in reading and the 84th percentile in math. Other subject areas, such as science and social studies, also showed students average scores over the 80th percentile. Public school students scored, on average, around the 50th percentile in each subject area.
For some teenagers, the big advantage to home schooling is the degree of independence they can achieve. They learn to take responsibility for their level of achievement and have the time to focus on the subjects of greatest interest to them. Self-direction is key; there are many programs teenagers can participate in outside of traditional high school opportunities, and being home-schooled gives them the chance to discover these. The Unschooling Handbook points out that these students can "learn to direct themselves, not to sit back and wait to be told what to do."
Many home-schoolers find their children learn more quickly at home, free from the distractions of a typical school day. This can be particularly true by high school, when social life, relationships, fashion and gossip become major school-day distractions. By separating social life and school work, home-schooled teens can work through a school year's worth of material in a matter of months; many finish high school coursework a year or more ahead of their traditionally schooled peers.