If the parents do not even have enough courtesy to send a simple thank you, what hope is there for the children?

Not to worry. In our current economic environment, they will be living with their parents until they are in their 30s, anyway.

I thought that this was a new trend, too, until I saw this from the Washington Post the other day.

Interesting. That fits with the idea that the 60s and 70s were anomalous, and that we are returning to the bad old days.

How are children ever going to learn to be independent and fend for themselves if they cannot walk the short distance to the bus by themselves? When I was 6 years old I walked one and a half miles each way to and from school by myself, as did every other kid. We all grew up to be able to solve our own problems.

Talking about helicopter parents, this is what happened to me on the way to work this morning. I have a 25 mile drive through rural Virginia. On one particular road the school bus stops at almost every house - eight of them. This was at 6:30 am on a pleasant, balmy morning. At more than half of the stops there was an SUV or other large vehicle parked, with the engine running, waiting for the school bus. None of the driveways are longer then 100 yards long, most much shorter, and most of the kids are teens or close to it. But they don't seem capable of getting from the house to the road without assistance from their parents, who then drive back to the house. This happens on most of the roads along the way: fortunately there are far few kids living on those roads or I would never get to work.

That seems like a scene out of a bad comedy movie. Are bus stops not a thing where you live?

Yes, lots of them. In fact, the stops at every house which has a child.