&gt; When you say that you&#x27;re white and middle class, are you implying that perhaps non-white and lower class parents aren&#x27;t as responsible, and therefore need the police to step in?<p>No. I meant exactly what I said, that I feel lucky that my upbringing has involved environments that are safe for kids. The only parents I implied were irresponsible in my entire comment were <i>my</i> parents.<p>&gt; these hundred thousand children are not learning life skills because we codified fear of low risk situations into law.<p>That&#x27;s also easy to say. (And if true, should have some easily measurable effects.) But there are millions of parents already driving their kids to school, with or without any laws. If that is causing the kind of problems you suggest, that children are not learning life skills en masse, we&#x27;re already there. Would you advocate requiring kids to walk to school, and enacting laws to make driving them illegal?