"The old men don't seek sex so often, and if denied by their wives they simply resort to professionals who won't withold due to loss of income."

Yes which is why the article noted, the women were offering money to the sex workers not to work -

Yes kids are just as safe as in the 70's - the difference is if a kids was raped/murdered in the next town over you might not hear about it -- now the whole country will. People who go through foster kids training learn just how common sex/physical abuse of kids is, but then its not your kids, its kids taken away from said abusers.

So in theory you could let your kids out just like you grew up -- but its not that it just as safe as the 70's, its just in the 70 parents were ignorant, and didn't know some one who was hurt. So how many parents have had a letter from school explaining why their school went on lock down because a stranger tried to take a kid from the school grounds? My oldest daughters kindercare, and once at her elementary school, and once at middle school, and a girl killed and raped at her high school -- and thank you we live in a upper middle class neighborhood with the lowest crime rate in the state. My youngest daughter just had her first lock down at her elementary school.

As a former foster parent (before my kids) -- sorry, go online all the sex offenders living in your neighborhood are listed, no matter what neighborhood in the country you live in, odds are there is one within walking distance of your house. Ignorance probably was bliss, and the majority of kids probably were never hurt .... but as a parent could you live with the guilt if anything happened to your kid? Is it worth the guilt? Is unsupervised play time a great thing, yes. But could you live with it in your gut for the rest of your life if something happened to your kids.

Look I have two kids, and getting to old to have another, and I still have the baby craving, some women just do...it will drive you crazy at times, but you have a great head on your shoulders, and you know you need a stable relationship, a steady income, and a reasonable place of your own.

Providing the economy is not in complete melt down, you will be there in a couple of years, and bonus so will some of your friends, and it is easier if you are not the only one in your group of family/friends having kids. Mid-twenties is so much better a place to have kids, not to young, and before the decline of your fertility and energy. You will be at your peak, and feeling secure, will be a better mother, you will be able to concentrate on your kid, and afford to spend time with your kid. If you have the baby now, your options will be limited to going back to work way to early. Give it some time and savings, you will have the choice of going back to work early, later or possibly much latter depending on your partner. Give yourself the choice -- sometimes knowing you could do it differently makes all the difference on the stress side. (You might still go back early, but knowing you have a choice will make you feel better)

Reading alot of these letters, I see - a herd of kids walking to school or going to parks, or older siblings, but our birthrate is way down, and fewer households have kids, and most folks only have one or two kids.

So if my kid wanted to go to the park, there are not enough kids in her age range in the neighboring streets to make up a herd of kids -- would I let her go alone - no, would I let her go if 2 or more other girls were with her? - yes

Will I let her walk/ride to school alone - no, if there were other kids for her to go with - yes.

The herd of kids is not an option anymore, unless you live in a suburb with a concentration of kids.

And yes the murder rate of kids is really low, but the level of sexual offers, assaults, and out right rapes are not so low, and tend heavy toward the girls - starting around age 11 - it can be non-stop. After all none of the rapes by Catholic priest or the Indian schools were even reported in the seventies when they happened, and living in a college dorm and hearing the stories of the other women, lead me to believe sexual abuse in the lives of young women is not that uncommon.

Is they have to be served. Which means you have to know where the creep lives. Tried to have one served on a stalker once, but other than his name, and found his parole officer - who wouldn't give me current address, I was unable to get the damn thing served.

Oh, and the Judge only does these orders once a week, and you and who ever shows up have to wait your turn - so basically you have to take an entire day off from work to do this.

And no they don't take the complaint at the local station - they refer you to the court house to take out the order, they don't even take the complaint.

Now, these probably varies by district, but its not easy, its not free, it takes alot of time, and no one cares. And if you can't serve it, its no good.