Marky: agree, not sure if it is dumber parents or just the fact that society has changed so much. Let's be honest most of your day you entrust your kid and everything about him to strangers, so why not do the same on the beach :) I also think kids notice that as well and get used to the idea. I think the problem is real community (people we know well ) has shrunk due to distance and false community has gotten bigger (i.e. the guy at the pool with his kids won't let anything happen to mine)