Culture of Fear

This story on the BBC site is indicative of the insane level of paranoia and fear out there in the world today. The statistics show that there's not really much to be worried about, and yet kids are being tucked away to keep them safe from the evil bogeymen and other horrors of society. Admittedly, the current stats themselves could be influenced by the state of things, but the odds of horrible things happening have never been all that bad. Why is everyone so damned afraid? At this rate, the next generation will be composed of overweight, video game addicted weaklings who've never climbed a tree. Oh, wait...