The fact that it happens at all is far too much. The US has become a country of essentially helicopter parents. I blame this largely on suburbs. They are built for cars and there's not really a good way for children to travel alone. This has caused a situation where parents are involved in whatever the child is doing anytime they aren't at school. This leads to ethe expectation that a parent will always be a with their child, so this not being the case becomes suspicious.