I remember biking around town when I was 8. My son is 6, I find it hard to imagine that in two years I (and others) would let him bike around freely.
I wonder why this changed. Is it that people have become more aware of dangers? Or perhaps parents are having fewer children and being more protective?
You should let him ride his bike freely and not give into your fear-based biases. I'll bet if you look up crime statistics, your town is probably safer now then it was then.
So why would you keep him from exploring and learning how to take care of himself alone and with friends?
Definitely. Car injuries have stayed roughly the same per capita.
And it seems like many communities have quietly lost pedestrians (it seems like baby boomers are atypically car-dependent compared to the generations before and after them but they're a huge generation and the biggest one in many places).
And now they're in their 70s are far more likely to be involved in in-town crashes (while highway crashes may be weighted towards young men at high speed, residential crashes tend to be old people pressing Gas rather than Brake, or Reverse rather Forward)
More aware of dangers? More likely, more afraid of perceived dangers which are actually very small - and I admit that the same happens to me, even if rationally I know that I should be less worried.
It seems to be a common occurrence for people who grew up in a denser, more kid-friendly post-war suburb next to a walkable downtown, but are now raising kids in a new, barren, sprawling suburb surrounded by stroads and next to a 7-11.
it’s because from internet you immediately and constantly get bombarded with millions and millions of news every single day about what happened in far away places
I wonder why this changed. Is it that people have become more aware of dangers? Or perhaps parents are having fewer children and being more protective?