As kids me and my friends used to play outside. What the hell happened to that? Are parents really that worried about child molesters?

Although crimes against children are going down (as with pretty much all crime in Canada & the US) when crimes against children are committed they are highly reported. 50 years ago, you generally wouldn't hear about a child being abducted across the country, but now a child missing in California and the whole country knows about it in minutes.

Higher media reporting rates and faster communication is making parents more paranoid.

Que some parent replying to me with some sort of anecdotal evidence to justify their paranoia.

Ironically, it was in the "good 'ol days" when pedophiles were much more active.
I don't think it's fear of that as much as it is just fear overall. I think a lot of parents are so worried about protection that they forget kids are animals that need to run and get dirty. There's a reason there's so many allergies today. And if a kid is bouncing off the walls we give them drugs which, personally, disgusts me.

Do kids even want to play outside anymore? When I was a kid, having to stay inside was a punishment.

Yes, there was an attempted abduction of a school girl here who was waiting for a school bus one morning and the school put a policy into place where the students can't leave without a designated person (on their list) showing a pass with the student's name on it. And now they can't even do that if they normally ride the bus unless the parent or guardian e-mails the teacher before the end of the day.

It is unfortunately a huge concern. Not that I wouldn't let my child play outside, but only with a group of other kids if they stay together. There is a convicted sex offender just around the corner from us...they are everywhere, though.

There are always kids playing outside. Where do you live?

You moved into the neighborhood.