Wonder if it has anything to do with the lack of Satanic Panic in the late 20th century. Also, the oversized number of well-known serial killers from around that time in the US.
I doubt it on both counts. People doing weird awful shit is hardly a modern phenomenon and yet prior generations felt no particular need to guard their children around the clock.
Probably because it wasn’t really possible before. Now there is a lot of technology making that easy. One of Apple’s big use cases that they sell is the ability to streamline being an overprotective parent
On the other hand, I feel it has been an enabler - the ability to track their phone if they aren't back home when they're supposed to probably allowed me to let my kids go unsupervised to various activities at least a year or two earlier than I would otherwise have; the phone tracking ability meant that they could go to sports practice at the other side of the city on their own with bikes or public transport (depending on season) instead of being "delivered" and supervised by me or the spouse.
Whatever it was, they really screwed it up for all of us. Parenting is so much harder than it needs to be and children are so much less balanced as a result. They share a big blame for the birth rate decline.
