We don't have kids so it's difficult to comprehend sometimes. It does appear some are over-protective - here in Singapore it's one of the safest places on earth to live, and local kids all take the public bus or walk to school (we go past a local school on the way to the office so we can see it happening) but the expat kids go to vastly expensive international schools that provide buses which pick up outside each condo in our street. All the parents bring their kids down to wait with them for the bus - seems a bit over the top to me.