Is having your kids walk to school a realistic option in the modern U.S.? I can only speak to Redmond, WA, but I live near a few schools (I walk the dog throug

Is having your kids walk to school a realistic option in the modern U.S.? I can only speak to Redmond, WA, but I live near a few schools (I walk the dog through one when school's out), and I see kids walking to school by themselves on a daily basis. The elementary school children are often accompanied by adults, but I see clusters of kids accompanying each other in groups. The middle school, I see probably approaching 100 kids(?) when school lets out, mostly in groups, some individuals, and like the neighbor kid across the street, a lot on bicycles. Now, maybe other cities have different attitudes, and I realize not all of the stories are made up, but this "CPS will take your babies if they are outside by themselves" seems more hysteria than reality. But my data are very limited and very localized.