I always walked, and it was great. The one time I didn't have teachers and my parents looking over my shoulder. There have always been "strangers" - just not as much media. I believe school shootings ARE a new phenomena, however. You can worry when the kids walk or worry about them when they are at school. I'm thinking the latter.

We take all 3 children to school ages 5, 8, and 9 its just to dangerous anymore in this world. If we are a few minutes late, all children being picked up sit in front of the office in view of all the staff. Better safe then sorry!

We are over protecting our children at a cost of them not being able to stand on their own two feet!

In my school district K and PreK students are not allowed off the bus unless a parent/guardian is there. Can't be an older siblings, no matter if the house is right there.  It has gotten ridiculous.

rjkardo has got it right.  crime is DOWN from the 70's and 80's when we as children had free roam.  most molestation doesnt occur by strangers it occurs by family members and family friends!

you can't live your life on what ifs and you cant raise children to be afraid of their own shadow.

I used to walk to elementary school (this was early 80's) but I was with my three brothers. It was quite a walk too, now that I think about it, hah. After 6th grade, I moved to a different part of the city but still wanted to go where my friends were so I had to take the city bus to jr high, which I took basically by myself.

I don't feel my son, age 7, would be able to walk to school on his own at the distance we live from school so I either walk with him or drive him if it's raining. Also, I don't think he would want to walk on his own as he doesn't even want to walk to his classroom by himself when I drop him off, he always wants me to walk with him.

Actually, I really treasure that he still is pretty attached to me because soon, he will be gone gone gone with his own life and friends. I do push his independence in many other areas so I'm not too worried about making him walk to school since I have the liberty to take him myself now.

This is not the world I grew up in. I could roam freely. My child can't even play outside unsupervised. Numbers? No parent wants their child to be a statistic. Better to protect them now. Once they're adults it's up to them. I assure you, anyone caught attacking my child will not get a trial.

No wonder there's an obesity epidemic.

The potential of abduction is completely overblown, hyped by a sensationalistic, fear-mongering media to which we have 24/7 access. It preys on the insecurities of parents, especially the neurotically guilt-ridden. My children walk, because I refuse to live in fear.

As a kid in the 60's I was picked on and bullied, but I still walked to the bus or even 1 mile to school if I missed it (I was always tardy;)....but I wished they had taught martial arts then. As a teen I traveled alone here in the USA and even overseas, sometimes hitch-hicking. The memories of riding on the roofs of the steam trains in India when I was 17 will last forever in my mind. There is no doubt that some parents now a days have a reason to worry more, but self reliance is a great lesson we must all learn, and it should happen well before college! SO a cell phone, a bike and some pepper spray....maybe a bunch of TaeKwanDo classes and they should be alright!

We have discussed this topic quite frequently at home. We believe the helicopter parents have gone too far. We live in a development that does not have sidewalks to the adjacent development where the school is located. As a result, the kids have to bused due to the road that connects the two having a high traffic volume and no reasonable path being available. On top of that, our school system does not have neighborhood schools, but moves the kids to another school every couple of years. They go to one school for PreK, another for K-2, the next for 3-5, the next for 6 then middle school is 7-8, then finally high school is 9-12. The idiots in our district created a system that promotes dependance and obesity in the kids. And....would it not be cheaper to hire a few crossing guards and lay the sidewalk then to pay for the busses and insurance with the necessary payroll? There I go, thinking logically about the school system!!!

Did you ever wonder if the world is so horrible how did we survive childhood to become adults? Toys now recalled for choking hazard toys were the best toys to play with, my school playground was blacktop and steel, I rode my bike without a helmet, I walked to school on a regular basis with friends. That was fun times and I came out a better person because I was allowed to be independent. I was lucky and grew up in a great neighborhood.

With the media concentrating more on a global level than local level parents hear horror stories all the time now brainwashing them into believing no one is safe to go outside. I look at my town's crime rates and neighborhood community, then I decide if where it is safe to travel to and from on foot.

Before I was lucky enough where my daughter would go to school close to where I worked and I could drop her off and pick her up. Now, I think with the budget cuts, it was impossible to find a Jr. high for her close to my school so she has to walk to school by herself but I could still pick her up in the evenings. Though I'm scared out of my mind each morning, she talks to me on the cell phone all the way to the bus and we have a code word system that she would use if she ran into trouble. Though it's far from fool-proof, it's the best strategy I could come up with under the circumstances.

I walked to school, (elementary through high school) when I was a kid, sometimes with other kids, sometimes by myself.

For crying out loud people, do you plan for your children to live with you forever "just in case" something might happen! By not teaching your children to be independent you are doing them a great disservice. Instead of having a panic attack everytime they are out of your site why not try to teach them how to be aware of their surroundings, not to talk to strangers (since obviously with you hovering 24/7 they have never seen one), how to be safe. Teach them when they are walking somewhere to hold their head high and walk with a purpose.

My 8 year old moderately autistic & ADHD grandson has more freedom than most kids his age that I know. He has chores, like to take the trash to the end of the driveway which is a good 200 yards from the house. One mother asked me how I could do that because it was "so far away". I can do that because it helps to foster a sense of independence in him and a sense of responsibility, something that doesn't happen when mothers hover over their children all the time. He plays outside in a 'gasp' unfenced front yard. Yes, I look out to check on him quite frequently but he still has that sense of independence.

People are taking this to the extreme so much that the kids today will still be children when they should be responsible, working adults.

I always walked to school as did my son. Is healthy for them to get out and walk. And we didn't have the obesity levels in the kids we have today.

I feel for the kids of all these helicopter parents of today, they don’t allow for any independence with their children at all. I work with one of those parents and watch and listen, that is not truly a healthy emotional environment for his children.

I’m glad I wasn’t raised nor my son in this “Sammy Safety Box” environment of many parents today.

In the 80's was driven to school due to distance. One year in HS, I lived within a mile of the school, I walked, and nothing happened to me.

Parents these days, unfortunately of my own generation who actually walked to school while kids, BTW, are too freaky and idiotic enough not to use common sense to gauge what is best for their children. They live in constant fear thanks to the media and the fears of other people, primarily in the suburbs, who don't have anything else to do but to feed their close-minded fears to other people who may have a better outlook of life and a better common sense.

And although I don't yet have children, I would certainly allow my kids walk to school as long as the school is close enough and they learn "street smart" tactics like city kids.

In the 80's was driven to school due to distance. One year in HS, I lived within a mile of the school, I walked, and nothing happened to me.

Parents these days, unfortunately of my own generation who actually walked to school while kids, are too freaky not to use common sense to gauge what is best for their children. They live in constant fear thanks to the media and of other people who don't have anything else to do but to feed their close-minded fears to other people who have a very positive outlook of life and better common sense.

And although I don't yet have children, I would certainly allow my kids walk to school as long as the school is close enough and they learn and understand "street smart" tactics. After all, the best that you can do to your kids is to let them learn important life lessons and to be safety wise.

If these helicopter parents bothered to do any actual research, they'd know that the pedophile is far more likely to already be inside the child's house than out on the streets. Most cases of sexual abuse and abduction are committed by a relative of the child. Not some random guy on the street.

The world is no more dangerous than it was 30 years ago when I was a child. We just have 24-hour news stations and the internet to sensationalize everything.

It isn't just the idea of my kids being abducted since I live in a busy urban area I also worry about them getting hit by a car by some bozo in an SUV, on a mobile phone and traveling 50 miles an hour in a 25 mile zone because they are running late. Age is a big part of it too. This year I let my 6thgrader walk home occasionally with a friend. I'd never let my 3rd grader do it though nor would I let either of them do it alone. Why take the chance? I'd love to be able to kiss them good bye and send them off to school and go get another hour of sleep, but to me it's peace of mind knowing they are in school safe and on time. Also when you drive them to and from school you get to know the kids they are friendly with and the other parents, so it helps to keep you in the loop. Everyone has a different point of view, that what makes America great, we are all free to choose what is best for our own families.

I know that some of the parents out there think that us overprotective parents worry too much but what if we didn't and our kid came up missing. I don't care what any one thinks about overprotective parents it would kill me if my child was taken and killed. I have two boys 13 and 10 and the bus stop for my 13 yr old is in my driveway and I still watch him while he is standing there not only because of the freaks out there in this world but because of the accidents we have had on our very public residential street people drive way too fast it is a 30 mph but they go well over it. My 10 yr old's bus driver still to this day does not let him off the bus unless she sees me or my husband in the doorway and I think it is a great way to be at least the bus drivers care about the safety of our kids and no matter what I will continue to be an over protective mom until I feel it is safe enough for my kids there are just too many people out there that are dangerous to our kids and society not to be worried. A lot of times people take for granted that there kids are mature enough to take care of themselves but you should think twice about it because anything could happen and then what? You would blame yourself and that is not going to do you any good all I am saying is that don't underestimate the ability of someone who is wanting to steal a child's innocence and future from them.

We live within 1.5 miles of the school, but there is no way we will allow our 11 yr old daughter walk to school unsupervised. We either drive her or walk with her. This has nothing to do with independence as there are other ways to help our children grow in their independence. It is clearly a matter of safe transport to and from school. She would have to cross one of the busiest intersections in our suburban town, and with or without crossing guards it is an extremely dangerous proposition considering the rate of speed on this stretch of road. Furthermore, I will not risk my child's life because the "odds" are that she won't be abducted. It is simply irresponsible to think that because we are in a "middle class" suburb that an abduction can't take place. ANY child lost to abduction is one too many.

The road to hell is paved in good intentions.