My parents actively discouraged me from playing video games / watching TV when the weather was good. So instead my friends lived on our mountain bikes. The good health and shape has carried through into my adult life. I credit good parenting for much of this.
As an uncle it's painful to not be allowed to take my sickly, sheltered nephews camping because their over protective mother doesn't approve. Storied like this[1] didn't happen when I was a kid, and by today standards my parents were neglectful. But seeing all these obese sickly American children, makes me wonder if the problem is actually with today's societal norms.
Sounds to me like maybe you should have a good study at hand before you come to conclusions. (What you have isn't even an anecdote, which could at least count as marginal evidence.)
Well, if you don't actually share those observations, they're not doing us much good, are they?
Did you have helicopter parents in the 70s? Are you a free-range parent that gets supported by your community instead of persecuted by CPS? We're listening...
Well, I did have 'terrible parenting.' We stayed inside all the time. And the result is that I have very good health, and neither me or my siblings were sickly or sheltered.
I'm not saying their isn't a cultural problem. But I see no reason to believe it without actually having data to suggest that.
But really, this isn't about me. Nor is it about any other persons unsubstantiated opinions on the matter. Because you know how you get cultural problems? By jumping to conclusions and asserting them without merit. I wouldn't be surprised if 'common sense' like this has cause more societal problems than it has solved.
Conclusions have already been made and acted on by the government without study. Agencies are acting like this without a change to the law, merely a change in policy. Pushing back against against this doesn't require a law.
Right now there isn't eve a law which could be looked up to know if a parent's actions are legal.
Well, you see in China you have both ends: some kids are still letting their mother do their laundry at 30. But at the same time some 7yo kids play day long by themselve in the alleys of Beijing, and their parents may not have a precise idea of where they are (this is personal experience, one of these kids, the son of a street tailor, was best friend of my son for a while). You also have 15yo kids already working at factories during holidays, and they build a full society of working teenagers (also personal experience).
So, well, no, this is not a worldwide pattern. It may be a pattern in developped countries. And I'm all for fighting against it, and encourage my 5yo boy to go out of our house by himself (we live in an alley with only very few cars).
We have walked alone to primary school (and kinder, if close) when were bombs in Medellin at the worse era (1980-1998?), with gang and killers and drug addicts. I get robbed by more than 20 kids (at the same time, not exaggerating) when have 12-13, still go to school alone next day. Same after a bomb explode 5 blocks away. And shottings next door at the school.
Colombians are in-famous for be very resilient.
First-world kids this days ;)
P.D: Still normal in Colombia, and now is far more safe. However this and another annoying behaviors are getting imported from USA and now we have all the typical problems of USA children, mainly at more rich families...
My hypothesis (and it is literally just that) is it's due to a crash in stay-at-home parenting (or single earner households generally). Even back in the 80s, the amount of folks who were homemakers maintaining and binding communities together, keeping an eye on things during the day, etc, was much higher than now. Now almost everyone except retirees are at work, in nursery or at school and you're less likely than ever to see people out in the streets or to get an answer at a random home if you needed help.
My oldest son (now an adult, and a participant here once in a while) used to take the subway by himself in Taipei at age eight. Once a child has taken a few rides with parents to and from the same stations, and especially if the child is literate (to be expected by that age, for that purpose), there's not much reason for the child to miss out on using the subway.
This was in northern michigan - between our house and my grandparent's house. 60 miles each way. Riding on farm roads and dirt roads - 30 miles a day - sleep out overnight at a campground by a river - sleep at my grandparent's house (no phone service!).
We knew the route by heart, and had waypoints to hit every day - periodic checkin by pay phone. That's how it was done! :-)
30 years later, it felt as if my 12 year olds were prisoners in an electronic cage.
From what I can tell, this is a worldwide pattern. Friends in EUR and AUS report similar phenomenon.
Times change. I hope it is for the best.