I'm going out on a limb a bit here it seems but my daughter goes to the shops around the corner by herself at 10. Because I don't drive and walk pretty much everywhere (or catch the train) she has grown up to be very street savvy. Our suburb is very quiet too and we know nearly everyone in our street. All the shop owners know her too (it's a very small village strip). Lots of kids play on the footpath in our street too and she's always out there playing and riding her bike, rarely inside on the TV. It's pretty much how I lived in the 1970's in our rural town. The families round here are very trust worthy too and we all look out for each other's kids. Having said all this I know the dangers but I do deem it safe and appropriate given her attitude, maturity and stranger awareness. I believe the prevalence of childhood obesity to be an insidiously quiet danger too. Most of my daughter's school friends get driven to school even though they live one or two blocks away through quiet residential streets. These same girls can't jog 100m without puffing and panting. You don't have to be overweight to be unfit. I've recently heard that our children's generation aren't as healthy as ours and are going to have a lot more health issues... little wonder when we model behaviour like driving to the shops that are literally around the corner. I don't advocate this level of independance for all 10yo's either... it would definately depend on maturity, confidence, and especially the environment. I know that my beliefs will be in the minority but I thought I might as well be honest... I would also like to know the statisitics for child abduction/accidents compared to child car accidents/health problems due to a sedentary lifestyle. This is a really interesting thread btw, I'll be interested in further opinions