Wouldn't the movie had been better if Macaulay Culkin's character...
...Had been a couch potato who just watched TV and played video games all day and did little to no activity outside or had any friends becuase he was not only too afraid to go outside but mostly becuase of his ignorance and laziness? The message works better in that kind of context when you think about it, becuase despite being afraid and overcoming his fears and everything Culkin's character was also made out to be a geek and an obvious bookworm already.
...Doh!