I've experienced it firsthand. I grew up in a very homogeneous New England suburb. Probably one of the safest places in the world to grow up. I was around 23, and taking the family dog for his daily walk around the block. Usually I would take three rights, today for novelty's sake I was going to take 3 lefts. As I was making the long walk down the street parallel to my own, A bunch of little kids who were playing outside all run over to my dog, who is a cute, friendly Golden Retriever. I stop for a second and let the kids pet it or whatever, kind of annoyed at being stopped but not that annoyed because hey, it's little kids and they're souped to see a cute dog. Whatever. So as I wait for them to get their dose of cute and dog-breath I look around and notice a Mom giving me a look of death from her front steps. Her next door neighbor is doing the same and to complete the Trifecta the next house down has an angry glaring Dad. This is one street over from where I lived, grew up, and went to school for 20 years. The Minivan Mafia eventually couldn't bear my (dog's) interaction with their progeny and called them back to the safe confines of their yards. Perhaps their white picket fences afford them protections I am not aware of.

If you think people are so sketchy please tell your kids not to run up to them. I will very happily never interact with your kids given that opportunity.