It wasn't always like that: it was pretty normal back in the 80s for kids to run around by themselves. However, at some point, the whole society became paranoid, perhaps because of 9/11, perhaps before, I'm not sure.
However, you're right in other ways. For instance, walking around with an open can of beer, or drinking a beer in the park, can get you arrested in the US. In Japan, it's perfectly legal, and people do it all the time (drinking beer with a picnic in the park; they don't walk and drink though, but there's no law against it). There's many other ways that individual freedoms are infringed in the US and aren't here, like how you can use your property. If you want to open a small cafe in your house, for instance, you can do it here.
It started with news television causing cognitive distortions about the rate of kidnap and murder of children, which plays into parental instincts real bad. It was essentially the first mass media engagement bait, like we talk about with social media today. Then you get stranger danger and the entire cycle starts.
Genuine question (I'm not American): How much do you think this was intended?
On one hand, I really don't want this to sound like a conspiracy theory.
On the other hand, it is well know that in the Us, the Media is tightly controlled by private interests, with a clear agenda, on both sides. Nothing controversial about this. So I don't think many wide trends like this just "happen" without the people at the top noticing...
Furthermore, there are obvious, very strong incentives for the people with power to tighten the control of the population as much as they can, for all sorts of vested interests as well as because that's literally what it means to "govern".
This has been true as long as mass media as existed, and way before that throughout history.
So my honest question is. How likely is it that the distortion about "kidnap and murder of children" danger (which for an outsider, is an objective absurdity), was a planned and deliberate campaign?
I think it happened due to simple money making incentives. 1. Media companies make more money with more viewers, because they get more ad impressions. 2. The most successful newsmakers make content that gets more viewers to advance their promotions 3. They use stuff that pull at human instincts, other news makers see it's effectiveness and start copying it. 4. repeat
Once you've worked in large organizations for a while, you realize that humanity most of the time is way too disorganized and gives too little of a shit for any kind of "conspiracy" to be that coherent.
However, you're right in other ways. For instance, walking around with an open can of beer, or drinking a beer in the park, can get you arrested in the US. In Japan, it's perfectly legal, and people do it all the time (drinking beer with a picnic in the park; they don't walk and drink though, but there's no law against it). There's many other ways that individual freedoms are infringed in the US and aren't here, like how you can use your property. If you want to open a small cafe in your house, for instance, you can do it here.