We were told to go outside and play and not come back in until suppertime. This was no problem for us since we lived in the country with a big woods behind the house and cornfields all around and a river down below - it was paradise for a couple of kids. We had free reign to go anywhere on the property (about 4 acres) without telling anyone, and if we wanted to go down by the river all we had to do was tell someone.

These days it seems you wouldn't dare let the kids out of hearing distance for any amount of time. If you don't know exactly where they are at any moment, you start to panic - always thinking the worst.

Last fall my mom was babysitting my 12 year old niece, who had a friend with her. The two girls wanted to take a walk down the road and there was no way my mom was going to let them go by themselves. She could just picture some weirdo pulling up, pulling them into the car and taking off with them. Of course, this was shortly after those 2 girls in California actually got away from the guy who nabbed them, so my mom was extra paranoid.