outside time

as it warms up outside we have been doing more out in the sunlight.  we have our great garden that we have been working so hard on and the lawn that needs constant deweeding but it has me thinking about kids playing outside and their safety. when i was young my sisters and i would play with the neighborhood kids. we would take walks, ride bike and go all over, but with the world today I'm not sure if our kids are going to be able to have as much freedom as we did.  now a days you have to worry about kidnapping,people caring guns, creeps with vans, old men with candy. where does it end. the schools aren't even safe half the time.  there was a close call not to long ago in town with a man at a school trying to get inside. luckily an off duty cop was picking up his kid and noticed the man from the station. he called it in and it turns out the guy had cupcakes and blankets in the car and was just released from jail for something along those same lines. freaky crap like that is just to close for comfort. why cant our kids have the same childhood we did with kickball, red rover, freeze tag and all the games you play with large groups of kids. i wouldn't want our kids leaving the front yard or being out of sight. but at what age then do you trust that your kid knows what to do if something bad were to happen. you cant baby them forever but how soon is too soon to trust them and the world we live in.