Parental Paranoia Is Bad for Both Children and Parents

Most of us remember childhoods where we were free to wander our neighborhoods. These days, allowing a kid to leave the house alone if he or she isn't old enough to drive is treated as a bad idea at best and, at worst, as criminal neglect. That kind of fear-mongering is bad for kids, bad for parents, and bad for society. Let's stop encouraging, even demanding, parental paranoia.