Of course it was fiction, but still.
If I let my elementary age children do that today the police would be called. My sister has had neighbors call because her kids were playing in their front yard.
It's a 100% sad and ridiculous situation. We're raising an imprisoned generation who can't handle anything. How is staring at a glowing screen all day a childhood?
EDIT: I suppose I should tone down my rhetoric but this really worries me.
[0] Except the alien thing.
My understanding of Russia is that serial murderers Did Not Exist by decree; certainly not serial child murderers like Andrei Chikatilo. The city never felt unsafe to me; I think I really felt that ethos of "we're all in this together", especially based on a childhood incident where I got lost at a public event, and a stranger brought me home. (Of course I knew where I lived; I was a child, not an idiot.)
[1] https://goo.gl/maps/jx3Y76UuXN62 - moderately rural most of the way.
The 80's happened which brought a few highly publicized child abductions/murders. Notably the Walsh child. His father scared every parent into becoming a helicopter parent. (Not judging, just saying).
People really haven't loosened up much since. Every stranger is dangerous.