re: Letting kids walk to/from school. Is the world really that much more unsafe?

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Are they?

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Yep.

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When I lived in SoCal as a kid in the late 70’s. the Son of Sam was on TV in the summer of 77 pretty much until he was caught. He terrified me. There was just something about him that made me think a monster was ready to jump out of the bushes and grab me at any moment. My dad tried to reassure me by emphasizing that the SoS was in New York and we’re in SoCal, and I had nothing to worry about. It wasn't until decades later that FBI and LAPD did an analysis of all the cold-cases from the area and realized that many were connected. Eventually they put together that, not only did SoCal have a serial killer or two at this time, but that they had over a Dozen operating from 77-79. Many were never caught. I was worried about the Son of Sam 3k miles away when I had a dozen super predators in my own back yard. Criminologists estimate that there may be hundreds of serial killers in the US thst are never caught. We’re only aware of the flashy ones that are undisciplined and crave publicity.

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Ann Gotlib was a child that was a few years older than me abducted at a Mall just a few minutes from my house when I was young. Unfortunately these things happen, even in the best of circumstances. This happened in broad daylight across the street from her apartment. They also believed later that a former veterinarian killed her, based upon his cell confession to another inmate and the similarity in another case where he raped a girl that looked very similar around the same time/area.

That didn't stop my parents from letting me walk to the school at the back of my neighborhood, hanging out with my friends on bikes in the neighborhood, riding the bike to my Grandparents house multiple streets over, etc.

Ann Gotlib Wiki

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Parents have that sense of dread for a good reason.

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You cannot stop every potential possibility of something happening to your kids. It's just not humanly possible. You would literally have to keep your kids in a bubble, fully isolated.

You can let them walk to school while being mindful of where they are, even checking on where they are with technology we have today. It's like people can't understand there's a happy medium where you can exercise safety measures and not stunt your kid's ability to grow into independent adults.