Should children be homeschooled?

Children miss out on high school athletics

Question: Should children be homeschooled?
Position‹2 of 3›: No, children should not be homeschooled - they should go to public school
Argument‹2 of 4›: Children miss out on high school athletics

They miss out on a free opportunity to play sports with their peers.

The argument

Sports are often a very beneficial thing in a child's life. They instill good habits that will carry on into adulthood. They keep kids active. They provide a unique competitive social environment which may even benefit the child's college career. Approximately 50% of high school students in the United States alone play a sport. Most high schools do not allow homeschoolers to participate in these sports, depriving them of a very positive opportunity. High school sports are also typically free, so to access sports a homeschooled child would be required to pay a fee. Public school provides a wide variety of sports for children, allowing them to discover how they like to exercise and instilling life-long positive habits.

Premises

[P1]High school sports instill lifelong healthy habits, keep children active, and provide a competitive social environment that can benefit a child's college prospects. [P2] Roughly half of US high schoolers play a sport, yet most schools bar homeschoolers from participating or charge them a fee, depriving homeschooled children of this free opportunity. [C] Therefore, because homeschooling deprives children of high school athletics, children should go to public school rather than be homeschooled.

Counter-arguments

Sports are not for everyone. One should not be deterred from homeschooling simply based on the availability of sports. In fact, very good athletes are often homeschooled so that they can spend more time focusing on their athletics. They have the ability to work with a specialized coach during school hours. Public school kids would not be able to do this.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Homeschooled children can still participate in sports in they desire, and if they cannot this is not the end of the world.