Growing up then and now

My generation grew up with homes left unlocked, sometimes keys left in the ignition out on the street!  We walked or rode our bikes everywhere and lots of times alone on our way many blocks away to a friends home or a park.  We played in the street.  That was then.  Now we hear of a Mom in Florida who was arrested for letting her 7 year old walk to a local park.  A mother in S. Carolina was locked up because her 9 year old was playing at a neighborhood park.  Parents are so occupied with work and communicating on phones they forget babies in cars.   A recent poll said that 68% of Americans think there should be a law prohibiting children age 9 and younger from ever playing in a park unsupervised and 43% felt the same about 12 year olds having that kind of freedom!  There are scary people out there.  Parents know or should know that it is a risk to let your children out of your sight.  Its a different world out there than when I grew up.  It is actually safer now, it just doesn't feel like it because we know too much. Back in my day we had plenty of molesters, killers and pervs.  We just didn't talk about them or hear about what they did.  Now we have news numerous times a day on TV giving all the details.  We have social media, cell phones carried around by everyone every day.  It might not seem like it but since 1993, the number of children age 14 and younger who have been murdered is down by 36%.  For children 14 to 17, it's down 60%.  Only one hundreth of 1 percent of missing children are abducted by strangers or even slight acquaintances.  So we know more hence we protect and coddle more.  We worry so much because of hearing so much we stifle the independence of our children.  So many kids now days think living is being on the computer or cell phone or in front of a game console.  My thinking is the real danger is children growing up lacking imagination, independence, and most important of all...Faith Hope and Love.  Now before I finish this I want to let you know I got a lot of this info from an article I read in our local paper.  Written by Petula Dvorak/The Washington Post.