Letting an adult figure go with the kids to Dunkin Donuts for their safety misses the point. The deeper issue is that using “safety” as the only metric for enforcement is leading to a society where the next generation of adults is ill equipped to live as confident, responsible, independently-thinking adults.

These parents are rewarding their kids to go to Dunkin Donut on their own. In their judgement, it was safe enough to do so. If they wanted to be sure, they could have snuck behind them (but they would have to make sure they are not caught doing so, otherwise it would shatter the emerging confidence of the kids).