I've seen stories like this many times, sometimes accompanied by comments from police warning parents not to abandon their children. The problem is so bad that

I've seen stories like this many times, sometimes accompanied by comments from police warning parents not to abandon their children. The problem is so bad that there's a whole movement dedicated to trying to stop or reverse this trend that is making (or has already made) it culturally unacceptable to let kids go anywhere or do anything https://www.freerangekids.com/ https://www.freerangekids.com/