Stuff like this is why I left Seattle in 1989, it was already going south then! I was born in Seattle in 1953 and raised there. My buddy and I spent weekends just wandering around on foot, downtown, Pike Place, First Hill, shooting pool, bowling, getting into minor troubles as young boys and teenagers will do, but it never felt like it was unsafe.
My parents barely had a minutes worry about our safety. When I was 8 years old I walked around Lake Union right in the middle of the city by myself. Its an 8 mile walk, mom packed a snack and called my grandma in Fremont and told her to keep an eye out for me. I showed up there got some lunch and kept on trucking home.
I would no more allow anyone under 16 to do that today than fly over the moon! Seattle is now like most major cities in America, just a big shithole run by criminals for criminals!