Utah even codified to avoid the Karen’s calling the police.
As a 9 year old in Columbia, South Carolina in 1980 I could go anywhere I could get to on my bike without issues as long as I was back by dinner. My wife was left alone without adult supervision for full days during the summer.
The world in 1980 was a much more dangerous place for children based on crime statistics.
That being said at a public event in an unfamiliar city even in a uber safe town like Placid it was a MAJOR lapse in judgment by the father.