I live in the suburbs of north chicago. This weekend my 8 year old had a friend ride his bike to our house. They rode bikes up and down our street while our two younger kids tagged along, and they went and played in the creek up the road for an hour. Then they came back and played capture the flag and basketball, then came in and had a popsicle and played Super Smash Bros. At no point did my wife or I talk to his parents, aside from "X would like to come over sometime Saturday, will you be around?"

Apart from the Smash Bros., it could have been a scene from Andy Griffith or something. If it matters, this is from a pretty wealthy area (Michael Jordan's mansion is about 10 minutes up the road from us).