A couple of extreme cases of child abuse have exposed a glaring gap in communication between social service agencies and police. Only specially trained investigators are legally allowed to question minors in criminal cases, but there are not enough youth crime investigators, so sex offenders are often not prosecuted or monitored properly.
However, small children take public buses home from school, others use hasaot, private vans to transport them to schools not in walking distance..
Young children in Jerusalem have much more freedom of movement than children of the same age in many major cities outside of Israel; many walk home from school alone.
Schools and ganim, nursery schools, all have security.
Crossing the street can be very dangerous. A new safety campaign was displayed on city buses when the school year began, encouraging safe crossing.
With the onset of summer-like weather this week, the parks, outdoor malls and streets of Jerusalem were full of children of all ages.
Perfect weather for hundreds of children from all over Jerusalem who participated in school races in Gan Sacher.
A suspicious package was blown up in Gan Ha’atzmaut, Independence Park, on Sunday afternoon just as children were getting out of school. The park was cleared, everyone stopped for a few minutes, there was an explosion and then movement resumed.
Bars on the window do little to keep thieves out, but do a good job of keeping children in… and flowers.
Dangers are all around, yes…
but as this sign warns 
Slow
Beware!
Children on the road.
The vast majority
are thriving.
Independent children generally develop a healthier sense of danger than those overprotected. When my kids were little there were fewer cars, which made things much safer.