I too had overprotective immigrant parents, yet at age 6 I was walking to elementary school, just a short distance of 4 blocks. Middle school was considerably f

I too had overprotective immigrant parents, yet at age 6 I was walking to elementary school, just a short distance of 4 blocks. Middle school was considerably further at 1.7 miles, and through the woods, but there was never any problem. We were also taking the bus, unaccompanied by parents, around town by age 12. I think also that people are more uninvolved with the people around them these days, especially in metropolitan areas. People don't know their neighbors and don't have the commitment to their neighborhood as in the past. You rarely hear of people verbally disciplining someone else's unruly children, or watching over them, as you might have read in stories from 50 years ago. People now are more likely to stand and watch a crime or an accident, or simply ignore it, rather than get involved. All this implies a greater danger to unaccompanied children.