I think the reason kids don't play in the streets as much as they used to has at least as much to do with the advent of refrigerated a/c as it does with "bad people". There have always been bad people around, we just didn't hear about it as often or as immediately as we do now. But with nice cool air inside, who wants to go out into the hot moist air? The east and south of the US are miserable in the summer! I am lucky enough to live in Southern California, in a near desert community where the days are hot and dry in the summer, but the evenings are beautiful and cool. The kids are either inside or swimming during the day and they venture out in the cool of the evening-and so do the parents! Way off topic. sorry.