A guy I know is trying to get a program together to publicize safe bike and pedestrian routes to elementary schools. He said the schools nixed the bike part. They said something about "liability." In America, "liability" is the excuse you make up if you don't want to do something.
As to child-snatching fears, it would be interesting to see statistics about how many kids suffer debilitating obesity-related diseases compared to how many kids get kidnapped on the way to school. My guess is that the number of kidnappings is (thankfully) tiny when compared to, say, the juvenile diabetes rate. Anybody got some hard numbers?
P.S. I walked and biked two miles each way to middle school. My guess is that I walked and bike about a mile to elementary school, but my sense of distance from that age may be a little off.