I think my childhood was similar. Although I recently went back to the place I used to live in, and the huge lawn behind the houses was not as big as I remembered it :-) There might have been parents watching from the windows without us realizing. But we also made bicycle trips to the lake on our own, certainly no parental watching.

It was also normal to walk or cycle to school on our own. I really hope my children will be able to do the same.