Longing for the good old days

I read with sadness the story of the kids scared of a "stranger" who offered to help them. A "stranger" who turned out to be a local parent and a FBI agent, no less. I'm sure this letter will generate its share of angry replies, maybe more so if I suggested that the antismoking factions of Calabasas and now some letter writers in Agoura are totalitarian bullies.

When I got the call on the emergency system of this potential abduction, since I have two children in the Oak Park school district, I immediately suspected it was an overreaction.

The insulation from anything we don't know, the paranoia about strangers, and the overprotection of our children is foolish. This is why we don't see many kids walk or ride their bikes to school. Instead of learning how to cope and deal with the world at large, we are sheltering our children from potentially wonderful learning experiences, growth and even adventure.

Naturally, if there is a known child predator loose we should exercise extreme caution, but how often is this really a threat in our area? And naturally we should educate our children as to how and when to deal with "strangers." This exaggerated fear of "strangers" is what isolates us from our neighbors, from the elderly in our community, from the fun of exploring our environs.

When I was a child, I rode my bike all over Los Angeles. I explored parks, my neighborhood, and stores in Hollywood where I developed my passion for collecting movie posters and comic books, among other places. I browsed old bookstores I'd discover, maybe try an ethnic food I'd never seen before. In other words, I was allowed to grow up.

Kids today are coddled and protected to an almost destructive degree. "Strangers" can be kind. "Strangers" can be loving and "strangers" can help when a child might need it when a parent isn't right there.

So, fire away with your paranoid angry responses to this parent (nonsmoking, I might add) who believes kids should be allowed more freedom, smokers should be allowed to smoke in their own homes, and HOAs should butt out of our lives. Bruce Sallan Oak Park