(NaturalNews) A Port St. Lucie, Florida, mother was arrested for felony child neglect and released on bail recently. She had to pitch nearly $4,000 to obtain bail. The charge is ridiculous considering that her seven-year-old son had walked there often.

He has a cell phone strapped around his neck, and when his mother, 34-year-old Nicole Gainey calls to check on him, the display reads "Mommy" in large letters.

The young boy walked to a park where kids play often. Apparently, public pool attendants noticed him a few times, and on the recent occasion of his mother's arrest they stopped him and asked where his mother was. The boy got nervous about being questioned by strangers and ran across the street to the park. The attendants called the police.

When the police arrived, they asked the boy where he lived and took him home, where they immediately arrested Nicole. A rather traumatic thing to do in front of a child whose mother is not a criminal and does care about him.

The Gaineys live in a moderate-sized single-family home in a clean, middle-class neighborhood located in a town of 150,000 residents 50 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida.

Not exactly a dangerous environment for kids. Even her bail bondsman quipped that his parents would have been in jail every day when he was a kid. Nicole intends to fight the charges, while the prosecution currently does not intend to drop the charges. No reports on the incident mentioned a spouse. So does this mean that CPS comes to the "rescue"?

The police explained that she was endangering the child because there are several registered pedophiles or various sex offenders living in that area. Nicole could have been warned about that without being arrested. Maybe the police should patrol this area more if they're so concerned about sex offenders.

"Happy Days" outdoors are gone for kids

If you were born during or before the 1970s, you may remember riding all around the neighborhood or town on your bike with other kids, walking to school or elsewhere, or using public transportation to go downtown to watch a movie. But now, one rarely sees preteen kids out on their own or even playing outside their homes anymore.

Police even put a Texas mother in jail overnight for watching her kids riding miniature motorized scooters from her front yard in a cul-de-sac in front of their house. You may have noticed the absence of fast moving traffic in cul-de-sacs.

The quasi-military police state mentality regarding children, pets and parents is on steroids and is permeating the nation. There have been many reports of "gunpoint medicine" where children are forced into chemotherapy, radiation or vaccinations.

When parents refuse to go along with medical mandates for obviously valid reasons, they are arrested and their kids are taken into custody by so called Child Protective Services (CPS) agents.

Growing up in suburban Miami, Florida, this author was involved in playing sports on a nearby residential street, BB-gun fights, building "forts" in jungles (overgrown empty lots) and riding his bike all over town. He walked three blocks to school and back when he was six.

It was a healthy way to grow up that many shared during those times. Trick or treating was usually done without parents taggin' along. All the kids in those neighborhoods grew up normally. But now, even school grounds have become very restrictive with what kids are allowed to do. No wonder they're restless in class.

Rules, rules, rules. A woman who taught in Indiana University's Music Department spoke up about leaving Bloomington, Indiana, to move back to her native San Paulo, Brazil. "Land of the free," she remarked sarcastically. "You have more rules here than anywhere!"

Sources for this article include:

http://fox6now.com

http://www.freerangekids.com

http://www.jstor.org

http://www.naturalnews.com

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