Hey Mama, I think you nailed it with the media part. We had some freedom as kids living in a rural area, but I remember the fear and fury over all of those missing milk carton kids, high profile cases like Jacob Wetterling and Etan Patz that were never solved made mothers everywhere fearful, thinking there were tons of child killers out there walking free, getting away with crimes. Then internet chat rooms started to be a thing and that was scary.. I think it's the media, fear = ratings. The crime stats say actual crimes against kids done by strangers are down. The biggest threat to a child's safety is usually their own family which is pretty sad. There is a case going on very close to where I live where a father killed his 10 year old because he was in debt and was hoping to cash in on the life insurance policy.. evil.