Very sad - many parents (ex-wife included) will never let their kids play outside by themselves. When my ex did see kids outside playing, her comment was "The parents that let their kids play outside without their parents, are the parents who wonder why their kids are kidnapped." One of several reasons she's an ex. He kids (from a previous marriage) were hovered over to the point that when they were alone, they got into much bigger tropuble than if they had been given some space earlier in life.
Yep, it's absolutely sad/crazy.
I attribute a lot of it to the "latch key" kids phenomena.