Overprotective?

My husband and I have been recently re-watching Penn & Teller's "Bullsh*t" on Netflix. One of the episodes was on Stranger Danger and it hit me a little too close to home.

When I was little, I was the victim of two kidnapping attempts by the same guys. While I was never snagged, it still was a terrifying experience. I'm not sure if my mother's overprotective nature stemmed from that happening or from her own past experiences, but I know we all were extra careful from then on.

My hubby and I have been talking about schooling when Luke gets older. Ultimately we'd like to be in a place where Luke can walk to school like my husband did, but hubby seemed a bit put out by me expressing that I would not feel comfortable with Luke walking alone until he was at least in high school. This stems from my fears of what I experienced and I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that Luke has a higher chance of dying from a traffic accident or even HIV than he does of being kidnapped by a stranger. This does not calm me down.

I guess it's more that I feel kidnapping may be somewhat preventable, whereas traffic accidents aren't always. If I'm walking with my son, he's less of a target. Other kids aren't as much of a deterrent as an adult. Do I impose on his freedoms to keep him potentially safe when statistically there's no real threat from strangers? Luke has more chance of being kidnapped by someone we know, so should I never introduce him to people?

The agreement we came up with is that we'd enroll Luke in martial arts as soon as they'll accept him. I agreed to let him walk by himself to school or the store when he gets to middle school age only if he can defend himself. I'm still not comfortable with the idea though. I doubt I ever will be.