Heather at Angelweave has a delightful and thought provoking post about living in a small town where the activities known as “asking for it” are still just part of growing up.

I grew up in a not-so-safe neighborhood in South St. Louis, but my parents let me experience the kinds of freedoms Heather had in a small town in Michigan. So I was shocked when the cops stopped my 13-year-old from walking to school in one of the safest suburbs in St. Louis.

Maybe, instead of hiding ourselves and our kids behind walls, we should take back the damn streets. I want my kids to walk to school and to Schnucks and to Mobil for a Slushee. I want to put them on a bus to go to a baseball game.