I grew up in a time where in a big city like Louisville, at 7 years old, I could take the city bus with my twelve year old brother and take 2 transfer buses or we'd ride our bikes 8 miles just to get to the city pool.

All summer long kids would play outdoors away from home, all day, all evening, everyday. We'd never be home, unless all the other kids who weren't at their home where over in your yard having a blast.

Kids had two rules, be home by dinner-time and after dinner the 2nd rule was to be home when the street lights came on.

The freedom kids had in the 70's and 80's would be unthinkable to parents today.

I do not believe kids were any safer in the 70's or 80"s than they are today, I think the availability of information access has increased and parents who can read have legitimate concerns about letting their kids out of eye sight.

The stranger danger campaign really started in the 80's. In 1979 a six year old boy in Manhattan was abducted on a two block walk to his school bus stop. The main stream media turned it into a multi year frenzy of educating us all to not talk to strangers, or accept gifts, etc.

I can a agree, a more watchful eye should be kept on your kids and there are very real dangers, some of us understand how deep the rabbit hole goes with this.

However, as I look back, I see that campaign doing far more harm than good. It took away the freedom and innocents of childhood and parenthood. The days of a Tom Sawyer youth evaporated and were replaced with over protective fear programmed asshats whose children stayed living in their basement into their 30's and 40's.