A striking example of both the parents and the society doing damage together is that many elementary school kids aren't allowed to walk home from school alone or with friends these days, because so many people are afraid they'll be kidnapped or abused (yet crime statistics show that the US is a much safer place than it was when Gen Xers like me were running around town on our own as kids). The same is true for people not letting their kids play outside unsupervised, and people calling the police becuase they see kids walking alone. All of these things send kids a message, which is that the world is too dangerous for them (I met a 3-year-old once who told me that if she went into the hallway of the mall alone, someone would kidnap her and kill her). Given the circumstances of their upbringings, it's hardly surprising that a lot of newly-minted adults fear the world and want to run from people or ideas that aren't like them. Some of them must be both terrified and lacking in skills for coping.
Over the summer, DD was actually escorted home by a police officer. She was 9 at the time. DD claims that her friend, who has a cell phone, accidentally butt-dialed 911. Since his English is very weak, he couldn't answer the questions of the dispatcher, so DD took the phone. The dispatcher demanded to know her name and age and exact location (her exact location was the sidewalk about 2 houses down). I had told DD to not give info like that to strangers, esp. since about three days earlier we got a police announcement that there was a perp in the neighborhood who was approaching kids claiming to be the "candy man". DD didn't know she was speaking to the "authorities", so she freaked out and made up a fake name and told them she's 13. Her fake name was something like "Gloria". She hung up the phone and then the police called back on the cell phone and demanded the correct information. DD told them the call was a mistake and they weren't in any trouble. But the police showed up and picked the kids up in the squad car. Now there is a police report in the system about this, because the police think that DD was deliberately cranking 911. They didn't believe her story that it was an accidental call. The police claimed they had to make sure it was not an actual kidnapping situation. So that's an example of how easy it is for people to get worked up and things to spiral out of control. DD was crying and freaking out after the cop left. The whole thing made me wonder if I messed up as a parent . If DD had been a year or two younger we probably could have had a CPS investigation because the kids were unsupervised. It turned out she wasn't old enough to get into "real" trouble for purportedly calling 911, but old enough that we didn't get into trouble as parents for letting them play down the block.
