Where is it safer for children to be schooled, at home or at school?

[Yahoo Answer Angel]

My question springs from the rationale of a Juvenile Dependency court suggesting home schooled children would be safer enrolled in a public or private school. If you take that rationale to its logical end, maybe the children would be most safe if they never went home?
Here's the story:
http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_8712957?nclick_check=1
The case centered on a Southern California couple, Phillip and Mary Long of Lynwood, who home-schooled their eight children through the Sunland Christian School in Sylmar. The family came to the attention of Los Angeles County social workers when one of the children claimed the father was physically abusive. The workers learned that all eight children in the family were home-schooled, and an attorney representing the two youngest children asked the juvenile dependency court to order that they be enrolled in public or private school as a way to protect their well-being.