Why are we so racked with anxiety? Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist and columnist for Psychologies magazine, believes that because we control conception now, wait longer to have children and have fewer of them, they are increasingly more precious to us. This doesn?t mean that parents of yesteryear loved their children less, it is that while they were prepared to live with risk, we will go to any lengths to try to eliminate it. Also mass media coverage of, say, an abduction is usually broadcast without mention of how rare they are (five to seven occur a year). Meanwhile, say the experts, our children are wrapped so tightly in cotton wool that they never learn the independence and streetwise skills that they need for life ? and ultimately they are placed in real danger. Times