The title says it all! A place without parents. Assuming for the moment that your statement later in the article "that parents worry" is true the preceding statement about parents not allowing the listed activities is not so universally true. As your example illustrates and the statistic support there are parents who do not know how to be parents and raise their kids. Until parents stop trying to be friends and be parents i.e. mature adults that make good common sense based decisions and get involved "with" their children instead of plopping them down in front of a computer or the tv or whatever technology is the babysitter of choice these incidents are going to keep happening.

Involved means knowing what your kids are doing, who they are talking to, where they are going - who they are meeting and being with them while they do it whenever possible.

That may mean that the kids do not have the right to be self determining as to where they go, who they see or what they do - but guess what the right of self determination means nothing if they child does not have the skills, knowledge and ability to make informed decisions. Until the child has learned how to do that from parents who are actively involved and hands on in the activities - it is the parents responsibility to oversee the activities. If the child does not survive because they are given too much freedom and not enough preparation to protect themselves - the rest of that does not matter.

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