If you're going to draw that line, draw it in the 20teens when parents started to get in legal trouble for their kids being unaccompanied.

But again, even just the "free range" nature is a very very small aspect of parenting.

Like, to compare to today's kids, being let lose on a small town as a preteen is nothing compared to unsupervised Internet access.

In a lot of respects, kids have a shit ton more freedom/privacy than pre-internet kids.

Hell, I remember having to take jr high dating calls from the kitchen phone in front of my whole family.

You're thinking what was important to you as a kid, is important to kids today.

Let them pick between a cell phone and closed bedroom door or a park with their friends but no phones...

You might be surprised, most people won't.