This is what we've come to

A few days ago I was having coffee with an acquaintance - a very nice man that I've known for a couple of years - at a well-known coffee chain store, whilst our children played.  His small son was with him, and started behaving badly.  He told me that his son was being naughty in this way in public more and more regularly.  He said that what he thought he ought to do was to smack him, but he feared that if he did so his son would mention in school that he had been smacked and social workers would be sent round.

On the way home, we were walking along a road in the dark, with cars passing regularly.  My son suddenly started to run ahead, veering slightly towards the road side of the pavement, and my acquaintance leapt ahead to intercept him, grabbing him gently as he approached the edge and steering him back towards the centre of the pavement.  He then apologized to me for touching my son, but said he was rather paranoid about roads.

That's right.  This chap felt he ought to apologize to me for touching my son whilst preventing him from running into the road and possibly being knocked down by a car.  And you know what?  I don't think that's because he was being over-sensitive or had misunderstood proper manners in our society.  I think he'd read it right.  I think our society really is so paranoid about any adult having any kind of uninvited physical contact, that unless you are a close family member or a very close friend or have specifically been given permission to touch someone else's child, then if circumstances force you to do so you are expected to apologize and explain yourself.

Are we happy that this is what we've come to?  If not, are we going to just shrug and declare "It's a shame, but what can you do?"  Or are we going to seek to change matters - and if so, how?