Who wants to be normal?

Our oldest son has been playing baseball this season. He has also gotten a lot of flack for being homeschooled. The children display their (and might I say actually their parents'?) prejudice and ignorance of homeschooling. To my mind it is sad. His best buddy also isn't playing anymore, making it doubly hard for him. We are so proud of him that despite these things he is determined to finish the season.
I read a recent poll that showed people believed homeschooling was just as viable education-wise as public school. They also believed, some what contradictorally, that homeschool doesn't prepare you for the adult world as well as public schools. I have heard those sentiments repeated often in our small community. Those spewing such nonsense often point to the homeschoolers that are now adults and working at the mill. They point out that they don't fit in with others their age. It is true to some extent. I ask, though, what are they not fitting in with?
In our area we have an epidemic of meth use. We also have an incredible number of drinkers (not that I am against drinking in moderation). Am I to be upset if I or my child doesn't fit in with that?
I think Kevin Leman put it perfectly in his book Adolescence Isn't Terminal; It Just Feels Like It!:

I think it's good to be different. I think it's healthy to raise
kids to stand apart from the crowd.
If your son isn't "different," his adult life may look like this:
He may marry and divorce within the first five years of his adult life.
He may drift from partner to partner. If he marries or moves in with a
woman who has already been divorced, he will merge his life with someone
whom somebody else has already discarded.
If your daughter isn't "different," she may have half a dozen
sexual partners before she graduates college. She may also contract a
sexually transmitted disease. Her sexual experience will actually make
her less likely to have a successful marriage, leading to a number of
broken relationships....
I think it's good for kids to be different. When the
popular route leads to disaster, I want my children to choose a unique
path. If I raise my kids to be exactly like everyone else-letting them
watch whatever they want to watch, turning a blind eye to premarital
sexual activity, running them ragged from morning to night so that the
the family never bonds, being too tired on Saturday or Sunday morning
to take the family to synagogue or church-I should expect them to grow
up to be like everyone else.
And that thought terrifies me.

I don't want my children to be average, I want them to be great. I am so blessed because my children already are great. They are a blessing. I am so very proud of them, especially my oldest boy in this situation. Way to stay at it buddy!