My mother goes through my handbag - I'm 36, and she cannot give up her so-called "control" - it's appalling ....

Kerry, London,

We live in an upper middle class subdivision in America suburbia and have two registered sex offenders in our neighborhood. The sexual revolution that brought us a billion dollar porn industry now pumps filth out of the pit of hell into homes across our country. What used to have to be purchased in a seedy store out on the highway is now available for the neighbor's adolescent son to view night and day on his computer. The greatest concern I have is for my young daughter's safety and protection from men and boys who are viewing this garbage. It isn't the same world. We're told there is no right and wrong any more, it's all relative. With traditional moral values howled down, don't blame parents for doing all they can to ensure their children's safety. We can't have it all. We can't have sexual anarchy and expect our children to be safe like they once were. Moral meltdown in a society has consequences and our children are the victims.

Ingrid, Waukesha, WI USA

There is a third consequence of the abusive over-protective parenting - Road Accidents.

By the time of teenage rebellion, children have never learned the simple act of crossing a road alone. This was previously taught at about age 7. And bingo. ..do not pass 'go', or collect £200, go directly to hospital/cemetary.....

Brian Vallance, Corfu, Greece

Raised 4 children to young adulthood you ignore a number of practical problems facing parents today. In my late 60s I was raised in the kind of world you hope for. One problem is with most parents working fulltime there's no longer the street play with moms checking on the kids looking out the kitchen window. Also true we no longer have a shared culture and widely shared social values so one must be very choosey, particularly with younger children, who they play with.

MARK KLEIN, M.D., OAKLAND, CA

Robert Rampton is right. The other effect of the motorcar is that the street becomes an unpleasant place. So only teenagers, or adults too poor or disorganised to own cars, tend be there, successful working adults walk briskly, head down, anytime they happen to be without a car, offering no form of social control. So parents keep younger children in, which makes the teenagers behave badly - they see themselves as the responsible ones when little children are about.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

A far, far greater threat to childhood is the constant pressure, from birth, of girls to be sex objects and men to be openly questioning their sexuality. As for playing outside, would you trust a Government to control the movements of 'paedophiles' or 'care in the community' problems? They can't even keep half a dozen NHS records safe. When it's too late they will claim, as they always do, that it was a 'mistake'. Your children are too precious for their 'mistakes'. My advice would be to keep your eye on them, despite what Government 'experts' are peddling.

Judy , Liverpool, england

It may be better to learn that hot objects should be treated with respect from accidentally touching one than from being constantly being told not – or being kept always at a safe distance without fully understanding why.

dr venables preller, Warminster, UK

As a university lecturer I became sadly familiar with 'kidults'; students who assumed that all adults should be at their beck and call and were totally helpless to fend for themselves.

Glen, Melbourne, Australia

Do you really think it is safe to let children run off and play on their own in parts of, say, South and Northwest London, as if this were the Britain of the 50s and 60s? What will they play at? Hunting the drug dealer?Slaying the fuzz?

The authoress of this article is presumably dreaming of some ivory tower Little England, which disappeared long ago.

Francis Tuttle, Madrid,

I used to go out all day on my bike, fishing, playing and having any adventure that happened to come my way, but it seems that that is no longer available to our children today. I know it is simplistic but in my opinion the chief culprit for this has to be the car, and until measures are taken to make it safe for children to go about unsupervised once again on foot or on cycle without the fear of them being run over (and as a cyclist I know how utterly dangerous it has become) then there is no way that our children as a whole will ever be able to have freedom and opportunity to grow and develop as we did. The bottom line is (and I know this as a motorist) that WE are the only ones who can give this back to our children.

Robert Rampton, Birmingham, UK

Brilliant article. Those who have commented so far prove that we are all terrified of modern life. But really it isn't that bad. The problem is that whenever anything foul happens, it is inflated in the media one hundred fold, so that we believe that if we let our children outside without a stab vest on they will, not maybe, nay, they WILL be killed. I will (i hope!!) let my children be just that, children who can play and build up thier defences against all that is foul by confronting it head on, rather than being shown it in a book or on the television. It is and never has been 'safe' to let your children roam anywhere, but that I'm afraid is the chance we all have to take.

Steffan, Meltford, Suffolk

Parents are damned for whatever the do these days, especially mothers who work for money outside of the home.

Seems to be that in the "good old days" children were left alone by working parents to make their own mistakes and go to their parents when they needed money or plasters. What's changed now?

The media has nothing to with this, of course.

Sarah, Gillingham,

I used to walk to and from school alone [ well over a mile] at the age of 6 years.From 8 got a very ancient old bicycle and would often disappear for a whole morning or afternoon!

David Vinter, Louth, Lincs., UK.

One of the reasons my children don't want to return to the UK is the amount of freedom they have here in the US and have done pretty much we moved here when they were 4 and 7. Possibly to do with the neighbourhood we live in and where every one knows whose children belong to each family. But they have been out playing since then and, after age 9, going to the pool alone (lifeguard on duty) in the summer.

The main problem I think here or back in London is not, I think, "stranger danger" it is traffic. Here we have a 25mph limit in residential areas (and outside schools as well for the 45 minutes before and after the start and end of the school day. Even now that my children are 15 & 12 I would hesitate to let them out unsupervised outside out London home because of the behaviour of the drivers using the road for commuting.

Jane, Edison, NJ