I write about this a lot, but this is really striking.

We’ve met the enemy, and it is us.

A whopping 68 percent of Americans think there should be a law that prohibits kids 9 and under from playing at the park unsupervised, despite the fact that most of them no doubt grew up doing just that.

What’s more: 43 percent feel the same way about 12-year-olds. They would like to criminalize all pre-teenagers playing outside on their own (and, I guess, arrest their no-good parents).

This is also a good quote.

I doubt there has ever been a human culture, anywhere, anytime, that underestimates children’s abilities more than we North Americans do today.

When I was either 7 or 8 years old, I got my first “real” bike. At that time, I was permitted to go anywhere within 2-3 miles of my home with no supervision at all. I would often be gone from 8AM in the morning until 8PM at night with my parents having no real idea where I’d gone.

When I was 10 or 11, I got even more freedom by getting permission to cross the main, busy road a few miles away and go wherever I liked.

This is just unimaginable today.