In an affluent Maryland suburb?  That should be the norm.<p>If you live east of the Anacostia in DC then yeah, the kids aren&#x27;t as safe outside on their own, but that&#x27;s more from a gang recruitment angle than a traditional &quot;stranger danger&quot;.<p>Obviously people who live in crime ridden ghettos can&#x27;t be quite as free as people who live in safe neighborhoods, and it&#x27;s something we should fix in the long term, but it doesn&#x27;t mean we should punish those people who live in safe areas with overly restrictive laws that hurt their children&#x27;s development.<p>It&#x27;s kind of sad that the kids who are already disadvantaged by being poor, having failing schools, and likely only a single parent are also the ones who don&#x27;t get to be free and learn independence as children.  It&#x27;s yet another cog on the cycle of poverty.