Gary, I'm happy your kids had that experience.
A kid, especially a boy, needs danger in his life. If not available, he'll find it.
Convenience doesn't matter. 
I think we've smothered the boy out of today's boys, and we'll pay for it.
I don't know what girls need, maybe the same. Life, and especially a child's life is meaningless without adventure and the forbidden. No wonder they seek stupor.
Boys are often punitively medicated before broken boys medicate themselves.
It's hideous, there are people I just want to kick in the pants, and send home.
Fire, explosions, trains, magnifying glass and ants, blood, stitches, acorn fights, slingshots, .22s, fishing hooks, rafts, boats, kid-built treehouses, reptiles, stings,
and thousands of other delights to relieve the crushing safety of the adult world.
Maternalism is fine, the toxic maternalism choking kids today is not fine, and has most likely helped create the threats most feared. Don't just read Tom Sawyer, be Tom Sawyer. We got your back