My 1st ex used to get pissed at me for putting halters w/leashes on my kids in public places. He claimed they were not animals, but I fought him tooth and nail......only takes two seconds to snatch a little one in a crowded store or at the fair. Especially if they are so young that they don't know there is anything wrong! That was in the 80's when not all places had cameras and the stores would actually HELP you look for your kids if they were missing in the store.....Nope! APPLAUDS for all STRICT parents

6 or 7 is way to young to play in the street in this day and age. back when we safe places to play ur mom or dad watched you like a hawk. i dont thin u are over protective.

my mom usually let me go around the neighborhood but i had to tell her where i was going before hand. lord help me if i wasn't where i was suppose to be.

i'm not a parent but i think kids need a little freedom but at 6 years old i wouldn't allow them out of the yard without me.

OK All Smiles in Tulsa... I think you might at least let them out of the yard now. At 25 or even 20 I'd be a bit annoyed also! But then again... at that age is when I started giving my parents the most grief.

I have a 6 year old that is very outgoing, very friendly and thinks EVERYONE is her friend, even strangers. While under supervision at the pool, she managed to walk off with a lady and her daughter, a man and his son, because as she put it, "they were nice".
I hated to do it, but it was the only way. I had to literally scare the h*ll out of her. I had to tell her stories about little kids being taken by mean people that would do mean, nasty things to little kids and sometimes kill them. She had tears pouring down her little face and it was all I could do to not grab her and hold her forever.
Yesterday at her summer program, one of the teachers took her outside with her. She was paying her tree guy and my daughter asked if she go with her, since it was just to the parking lot and the teacher was with her, she allowed it. She said my daughter literally hid behind her and told the man, I don't know you, I am not allowed to talk to you.
She is finally getting it.
It is a sad thing to have to tell a child that they can't talk to people in this world because you don't know if they will hurt them or not.
I think my older two were easier, we lived on a farm in the middle of bfe and everyone in the community knew everyone. It was too far to walk to the neighbors house (5-10 miles one way), so I didn't have that issue with them.
When I was growing up, I lived out of city limits, we didn't lock our doors at night, or ever until I was about 13 or so and that was only because one of the neighbor kids got attacked on Halloween.

where i live u dont have a problam with anything like that..
we r so far out of the way that we dont see our nabors unless we go into town. out here u have a dog for the kids, one or two for the cows and in between the three u'd have to be crazy to mess w/ one of my babes, even so there not alowed to leave the yard.... moutin cats and bears wander in these parts.