[Restorer]

I know I never see packs of young children roaming around outside anymore. I grew up mainly in the '60s and I spent a tremendous amount of time outdoors. Even though we lived in surburbia, there were patches of woods scattered around and I knew them all in detail.

I think a lot of it is the over-scheduling of kids with classes and activities. I kind of doubt it's a good thing, overall.

[HairOfTheDog]

There aren't any free-roaming packs of kids here either, and I don't think the scheduled kids are necessarily better off either.

[Sam Cree]

Really, when you think about it, you must raise your kids to be independent and to be able to make their own decisions, so they will in turn have the ability to raise their kids. That means that, as children, they have to be on their own as much as possible (and is safe), scary as that is to us parents. I think some risk is unavoidable, though it ought to be minimized as it can.