Going Places

I recently met someone whose claim to fame was they do not go anywhere or do anything.  Instead of going places and learning things they stay home and have "family time."  I cannot possibly fathom this reasoning.  It would be just as easy to spend "family time" with your family at a better location then your home.  I am not saying that hanging out with family is a bad thing to do at home, I simply mean that hanging out with your family and spending every weekend with them at home is not something that can possibly help a young person's social behavior.  This person's children are not allowed to go to sleepovers or hang out with other kids on the weekend because they must be home for family time.  Other children are not allowed over at their house on the weekends because they would intrude on family time. 
I wonder what I would have thought of my parents when I finally reached high school if they had never allowed me to do things on the weekends or hang out with my friends.  I surely would not be a socially acceptable person, I certainly would be more socially awkward then I already am.  But, who am I to judge? Perhaps these children who do not get to have friends outside of school will turn into fantastic human beings and will not rebel when they reach their teenage angst years.  Maybe these kids will turn into doctors, lawyers, or find the cure for cancer or aids?  Who knows!  I don't care to judge people on their choices if it does not hurt me or someone else, but I still wonder will not being allowed people their own age from outside of their family in a non-school setting damage these kids' social behavior forever?  Probably not; but, will they ever know the fun of camping in a friend's backyard or going to a school dance on a Saturday night?  Most likely not, and here is yet another reason I think my parents were great parents! 
We had lots of time to spend with our family, we are still a close knit family ( talk to my mom and my twin sister everyday), but we were also allowed to have friends over and go to friends' houses and do things other than hang out at home all the time.  My parents made sure to take us to as many places as they could.  Although we were not wealthy, at all, my parents tried to take us as many places as they could and for that I am forever grateful because I still want to travel the world and learn as much as I can!