Is castling really a "safety move"?

Beginners are told time and again "Castle and get your king into safety" but I think this must be done with careful judgement.  The number of times black castles and white just sticks a bishop on d3 and pawn-storms with h4 g4 f4 f5 Ng5 Qh5 checkmate!  Not to mention that in the long run your king might be more useful tucked away on e7, closer to the action, than on g8.  

By all means castle, but only if you're not "walking right into it."

Thoughts?

I agree. They say castle and get  your king  into safety is because normally opponents haven't started an attack. If it isn't an opening, they might start an attack on both sides exceptthe center or the sides have a bad pawn structure.