This is in response to Gina Martin's letter of April 7 ["Home schooling may 'teach' sectarian animosity"]:

Are public schools the only place in which people are exposed to others with different backgrounds and values? Of course not. That's a leap in logic that's just not true.

My own children are exposed daily to people from about five continents. I think that one of the strengths of home schooling is that instead of just reading about Japan and maybe having a bulletin board about it, we can meet someone from Japan in the grocery store, the kids can be curious about the contents of his shopping cart, we can talk, become friends, and end up invited to his home for a real Japanese meal. True story.

I grew up in a small town. I became good friends with the children of a Nigerian college student who was hired to house-sit a neighbor's home several summers in a row. My family also became best friends with a family from Vietnam. Neither of these contacts came through public school, yet I spent much of my free time with them.

Had I not been in school all day, I could have met the many fascinating people my parents did just in the course of living their lives.

I think it's breathtakingly intolerant to believe that the only route to tolerance is through public schools, as well as a fine example of fuzzy logic.

Both are errors that I hope to help my children avoid through the way I'm educating them.

Tracey Rollison

Indianapolis