I grew up in a third world city of about one million, where there is no evidence that a car ever stopped for a pedestrian. Because there was no expectation of drivers ever stopping other than (hopefully) on a red light, we learned to cross the street by strictly paying attention to the cars, and by grade 4 we were crossing the busiest street, at rush hour, on our way to take the bus home after school. And no kid ever had any problem. The key was learning, from day one, not to trust the drivers.

What they are doing with the kids these days falls under the general umbrella of teaching them their rights but not their duties: all kids know that cars are supposed to stop, but none are prepared for a distracted or careless driver.