[ryukafalz]

> We live in an age where it’s easier than ever to socialize.

Do we? Online, maybe, but that's no substitute. In large parts of the country, kids can't go see their friends without their parents shuttling them around, in part because the terrain is near-impassable without a car.

Maybe if the rural community is still somewhat walkable - the core of many small town would qualify - but my feeling is that many/most are not.

(That said, this applies to most suburbs these days too, and even many cities. Unfortunately.)

[vitaflo]

Rural communities don't need to be walkable. I would regularly bike 5+ miles to visit my friends in our rural area (all farm country) and did so about as soon as I learned to ride a bike (6 or 7 years old). Kids biking wherever they wanted to go was very common. So was riding ATV's when they got to be preteens.

In rural communities, parents aren't always chaperoning and shuttling their kids everywhere. You're given a lot more freedom as a child.

[pgcj_poster]

How long ago was this? If you had freedom as a child, it might have been because of the time rather than the place. I was a kid in a rural area in the 2000s, and there was exactly one time in my entire childhood when I saw another kid that I knew outside of school without my parents having arranged it and having driven me somewhere. If I went for a walk alone, people driving past would stop and ask me if I was lost and needed help. Actually, that happened last time I was at my parents' home even though I'm in my 20s. I felt lonely and isolated growing up, and I still feel developmentally stunted from it.

[beerandt]

Many states still allow 12 year olds to drive farm trucks on local roads.