Did you live anywhere outside the US for a long time? In any case, I grew up in Korea in the late 90s and it was pretty much as described in the article, witho

Did you live anywhere outside the US for a long time? In any case, I grew up in Korea in the late 90s and it was pretty much as described in the article, without the niceties like designated safe building or a warning chime to remind kids to go home. I walked to and back from school every day, and oftentimes went to Sunday school, library, etc. by myself. I was also given money to purchase school supplies for various school activities everyday. I also knew how to take the subway/bus to get to my grandparents' place on days my mom would be there after school. Every Saturday all the students helped clean the school and we had rotating duties to collect milk cartons, clean the bathroom, bring lunch from the kitchen in bulk to serve to classmates, etc. Mind you, this was all in 1st and 2nd grade. When I moved to the States in 3rd grade we had tasks like whiteboard erasing, door holding, etc. but that's about the only similarity I found.