Memory Monday turned sad rant

I remember growing up in Rupert, Idaho.
I remember a LOT of freedom and running around outside and walking with brothers and friends to the Wilson Theatre for a matinee in "downtown" Rupert. The suckers at the Theatre had a chance of having a star inside... and if you got the star you got another sucker for FREE!
I remember knowing most of the people who lived on my street.
During the summer we would stay up until it was dark and then run around in the dark playing our child games like Murder in the DARK! until mom yelled for us to come in.
We could ride our bikes all the way across town to go to the City Pool, or ride our bikes miles the other way to Cemetery Hill with a hot dog in a baggie for our meal when we got there.
I remember walking to Elementary school and watching a dead cat decompose day by day.
I walked to Jr. High (Jr. High is a horror story for another time). High School was too far to walk, so I rode the bus or drove after I got my license. I don't remember gangs existing.
I really remember bullies and mean boys and barely existing and frustrating things happening.
I remember hearing where kids hung out to drink in my Junior year of high school. The reality of life hit me in my Senior year when my friend became pregnant and my family and I moved to another town in the middle of my senior year of high school.

People who grew up here in Salt Lake in the 50s - 70s remember riding their bikes all across Salt Lake City. They remember being safe and walking and riding their bikes everywhere.

What happened? Something changed during the 80s I think.
Suddenly people were fearful. Suddenly the world wasn't a safe place.
I really wonder what happened.
My husband suggests that in the 80s the news started using fear to get people to watch their news channel. Maybe we all found out about all the bad things and abuse came out of the closet, so to speak. Maybe being more aware of the evil made us fearful and we taught our kids to be fearful and kept them closer to us and to home.

When my brother (who is 10 years younger than me) went to Elementary school (the new one right around the corner from our house) he couldn't wear a Raider's t-shirt for fear of getting beat up by "gang kids". A girl in his class stole alcohol from her father's cabinet and hid it in her desk at school. A man threatened someone with a knife in the apartments my grandma lived in just down the street from my parents house.
Things seemed worse. I bet my brother didn't get to just run around and go to town by himself and ride his bike everywhere.... I'll have to ask.
Maybe it will add a piece to the puzzle of :
What happened between when I was a kid and our kids today?

Fear mongering news making outside seem very unsafe?
Computers and games and T.V. inside?
The heightened awareness of abuse and kidnapping?
I mean, there are 120 registered sex offenders living in my immediate area....
talk about heightened awareness of bad things!

Ross and I both grew up in very small towns (his was smaller than mine!) and we both had free and fun and running around town kind of childhoods. We are sad that it's not safe enough to allow our kids to run around and explore their world. In fact, parents who let their kids run amuck (aka. go to the park by themselves) are looked down upon!

Anyway, we try our best to make sure our kids go out (Buddy System!) and play. We make sure our kids know to get away from adults that are TOO friendly or ask them for help (a normal adult wouldn't ask a kid they don't know for help finding their dog, etc.) .
We tell them all the time that we trust them so much, it's the people we don't know that we don't trust.
So much they need to know to be safe these days.