> I'd be interesting in hearing more Japanese/Swiss parents feedback on whether their country really is more liberal than the United States when it comes to let

> I'd be interesting in hearing more Japanese/Swiss parents feedback on whether their country really is more liberal than the United States when it comes to letting their younger children walk to school in the presence of only another child, not older than 12 years old. Here's an interesting discussion by English speaking parents in Switzerland [1]. The same for Japan can be found here [2]. These are largely the same as my observations. [1] http://www.englishforum.ch/education/207982-kindergarten.html http://www.englishforum.ch/education/207982-kindergarten.htm... [2] http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+77744 http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+77744 Edit: See, even that you had to specify this stance as "independent/free-ranging" tells me that there's a cultural clash at work here. Where I and my wife come from, we dont' need to apply such adjectives to what we consider 'normal parenting'.