It's always 'for the children'

It seems the State believes it can do anything, so long as the justification is protecting children. Children have never been more officially 'protected' than they are today (helmet and seat belt laws, regulation of toys and playgrounds, etc ad nauseum). And rarely have our basic freedoms been so much under attack. Coincidence?

Parents are being banned from playing with their children in council recreation areas because they have not been vetted by police. Mothers and fathers are being forced to watch their children from outside perimeter fences because of fears they could be paedophiles.
Children as young as five will instead be supervised by council 'play rangers' who have been cleared by the Criminal Records Bureau.
Parents already have to 'register' their child on arrival so staff have their contact details in the event of an accident. But now only those who have been selected for CRB vetting by the council can enter the sites.

The song used to say "Britons will never be slaves." And yet, in the name of their children, the NannyNation grows ever stronger. Do the British still value the "rights of Englishmen" enough to tell the State to butt out and bugger off?

Closer to home, do we? Does the Star Spangled Banner yet wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave... or does it shelter--and shackle--the timid and dependent?