>I am reading all this and wondering how I - and my whole generation of peers - survived. I was walking to school (~15 mins on foot) alone (well, sometimes with

>I am reading all this and wondering how I - and my whole generation of peers - survived. I was walking to school (~15 mins on foot) alone (well, sometimes with my class mates) since I was 7. I walked to school at those ages too. But we didn't all survive: one of my classmates in 7th grade was hit by a car crossing a busy road and died. It's long been dangerous for kids to be outside because of America's obsession with cars, but decades ago, having some kids get splattered on car hoods was considered OK and an acceptable sacrifice for a car-dependent society. Now, risk acceptance is lower so parents keep their kids inside all the time, while buying huge SUVs to protect their kids when they do go outside.