Why is this controversial?

We have lost all sense of proportion - and risk. [Link]

There are many reasons why the strong trend against small freedoms for children is a bad thing, but the best is this: The choice is not actually between more safety for your child and, well, less safety, but between safety today and safety tomorrow. Yes, at the margin your watchfulness may protect your kids against dangers now, but only at the expense of weakening their defenses when you actually cannot monitor their every movement. Few people learn basic street-smarts in the company of their parents, and if your children are not learning them now by spending significant time roaming around without adult supervision then you are making them a soft target later. It is as simple as that.

Bizarro world behavior from the article. Emphasis added. [Link]

In Columbus, Miss., Lori Pierce would like her daughters, 6 and 8, to walk the mile to school by the end of the year. “They want to walk,” she said. “They have scooters.” But she and the girls face obstacles. Mrs. Pierce must teach them the rules of a busy street, have officials install some sidewalks and urge the school to hire a crossing guard.
And Mrs. Pierce faces another obstacle to becoming a free-range mother: public opinion.
Last spring, her son, 10, announced he wanted to walk to soccer practice rather than be driven, a distance of about a mile. Several people who saw the boy walking alone called 911. A police officer stopped him, drove him the rest of the way and then reprimanded Mrs. Pierce. According to local news reports, the officer told Mrs. Pierce that if anything untoward had happened to the boy, she could have been charged with child endangerment. Many felt the officer acted appropriately and that Mrs. Pierce had put her child at risk.
Critics say fears that children will be abducted by strangers are at a level unjustified by reality. About 115 children are kidnapped by strangers each year, according to federal statistics; 250,000 are injured in auto accidents.

It's crazy. I was never a very adventuresome kid, but I still wandered the neighborhood with no supervision. This overprotectiveness does no favors to the kids.