Bear in mind, though, that even that kind of extreme of being out-of-touch with the world around them-- that's less LOG and more personality.
DD is very much hyperaware of her surroundings and threats therein-- and always has been. She's got terrific instincts to prevent being pickpocketed; most impressive for a non-urban childhood.
Free-ranging is probably mostly a matter of what seems normative in the setting in which one lives. Buck the trend (whatever it is) and you'll have others judging your parenting choices rather harshly, I'm afraid. Free-ranging is relatively popular here-- and we get labeled TigerParent/helicopter parents because we don't. Those are the major divisions locally, btw.
