[pagansoul]

I was 1-1/2 blocks away from my grammer school. I walked there alone, with other kids going to school, in the mornings and home in the afternoon. Now my 8 year old niece has to be brought and released by her parent every morning and picked up ever afternoon, the same school. When I was in Sixth grade, about 11 years, I walked about 6 blocks to the school, same thing.

I don't have any kids myself but I figure I would be just as crazed as the next parent thinking someone is out there thinking about taking my baby. Kids take it in stride, each generation deals with their own times.

I think it also has to do with only having 1 child as opposed to having, in my parents case, 6 kids. You loose a lot of that over-protect thing with each child. Todays couples don't have those big families anymore. That one child is covered in a blanket of 'don't give my kid the coodies'.