"Driving children around is statistically more dangerous than letting them roam freely."
The Case for Free-Range Parenting
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/opinion/the-case-for-free-range-parenting.html?referrer&_r=0
"...
Such narrowing of the child’s world has happened across the developed world. But Germany is generally much more accepting of letting children take some risks. To this German parent, it seems that America’s middle class has taken overprotective parenting to a new level, with the government acting as a super nanny.
...
Today’s parents enjoyed a completely different American childhood. Recently, researchers at the University of Virginia conducted interviews with 100 parents. “Nearly all respondents remember childhoods of nearly unlimited freedom, when they could ride bicycles and wander through woods, streets, parks, unmonitored by their parents,” writes Jeffrey Dill, one of the researchers.
But when it comes to their own children, the same respondents were terrified by the idea of giving them only a fraction of the freedom they once enjoyed. Many cited fear of abduction, even though crime rates have declined significantly. The most recent in-depth study found that, in 1999, only 115 children nationwide were victims of a “stereotypical kidnapping” by a stranger; the overwhelming majority were abducted by a family member. That same year, 2,931 children under 15 died as passengers in car accidents. Driving children around is statistically more dangerous than letting them roam freely.
...
“We are depriving them of opportunities to learn how to take control of their own lives,” writes Peter Gray, a research professor at Boston College. He argues that this increases “the chance that they will suffer from anxiety, depression, and various other mental disorders,” which have gone up dramatically in recent decades. He sees risky, outside play of children among themselves without adult supervision as a way of learning to control strong emotions like anger and fear.
..."
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Fear runs far too much of our every day lives, and as has been noted, we tend to fear the wrong things too much of the time.
Anyway, it's a fair piece.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I had to pick up a neighbor's kids - some sort of scheduling snafu - I told them to please not talk to me while I'm driving.....I found the responsibility nerve-wracking......I did try to explain it to them when we got home but they probably thought I was nuts. 
Have a great weekend.
As our society gets safer, each incident takes on greater and greater significance in the collective consciousness.
"Preparing for the zombie apocalypse" once was a joke. It is now becoming the norm. Incidents that are less frequent with each passing year are now "an epidemic". 
Still, fear keeps some parents from letting their kids venture out even in such environs as that.
