They have this because people don't trust their kids to walk home or be unsupervised any more, not because of individualistic thinking. And to be blunt, they are not entirely wrong; a dirty little secret of the old days is how much bullying or worse happened among unsupervised kids.
Actually they are. Humans are notoriously bad for understanding risk.
The rise in helicopter parenting DESPITE the fact that in no time in American history have children been more safe [1]
is due to the fact that we (parents) have access to more information and news, and stories of children being harmed are sensational.
Our children would be fine riding the bus and waiting for the bus stop like we did as kids, but the fact that it's MY child means that I must do everything I can to protect them, regardless of the rationality of it. It is very much about individualistic thinking.
