There is some debate on whether curfews keep teenagers out of trouble. A curfew is defined as a law or regulation that requires a person or group of people must stay indoors for a designated time, usually through the night. Curfews usually apply to teenagers and are there to help keep them out of trouble and keep them safe. City regulations have different views on curfew times and age groups. For example, a 13 year old will need to go indoors earlier than a 17 year old. Usually a curfew is set at about 11 p.m., but can also be set for in the daytime. In consideration of having a curfew for teenagers, the crime rate has greatly decreased. Curfews help the streets of many cities all around the U.S. More than 146 U.S cities, according to findarticles.com, have curfews that require kids under the age of 18 to be off the streets and in their house at a certain time. According to youthservicesslc.wordpress.com the U.S Conference of Mayors sent out a survey to other Mayors in 347 cities and discovered that 83 percent of the cities alleged that gang-related crime in some of the cities had decreased. For example, police in Phoenix say that gang affiliated murders, drive-by shootings, robberies, and major assaults have shrunk by 42 percent since the curfew law has been in effect according to findarticles.com. Even in Michigan curfew have been known to reduce teen crime, In Ludington, according to Capital News Service, “When Lake County had a problem with mischievous youth, the police department stepped up curfew enforcement for those under 16 and it paid off. The number of youth crimes decreased, Lake County Sheriff Robert Hilts said. Similar effects have been reported elsewhere. After curfew laws are put in place, youth arrests drop ...
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...y can but at any point in time a cop can roll by or a parent can call the cops and the teen will be taken back to their house or even receive worse punishments.
Curfews are here to stop teenagers from roaming the streets at night and causing trouble. In consideration of having a curfew for teenagers, the crime rate has greatly decreased. Many tests and studies have confirmed that curfews do keep teenagers out of trouble. Curfews have helped keep many of the streets safe and free of crime in various cities around the world, even cities in Michigan.
Works Cited
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Research on teen curfew:
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Research on teen curfew:
N.p.. Web. 11 Dec 2013. .
Today, teen curfews are commonplace and supported by voters. Bainbridge observes that according to Jet Magazine’s survey taken in 2011, 75% of the voters were in support of curfew laws (13). Parents arrange for young children to go to bed at an earlier time than teenagers (Psychologytoday.com). Teens receive the privilege to stay up later but this can mean that they will be out on the streets later at night. McKinny indicates that curfews are in place to protect the youth from crimes that may harm them or take the children’s lives (Time.com).
They open up the doors to a new discussion that explores the idea of not punishments for crimes they commit, but preventing them before they take place. Staying after school, involved in productive activities seems to help students stay out of trouble. Curfews are imposed in some states, preventing juveniles from being out past a certain time until a time early the next day. These curfews are said to be in place in order to prevent crimes, but there are no statistics to back this up, as there are for the crime rate dropping with kids staying after school. Regardless, these are matters of precaution taken in order to attempt to prevent crimes from happening at the times in which they’d be anticipated to. If things are in place in order to prevent juveniles from committing crimes, the crime rate will drop, and many people will be saved from entering a world unknown to the world that is prison. Stopping juveniles from committing crimes would maybe them cause adults to not commit crimes as well, since in essence, these juveniles will indeed one day be adults. By implementing laws, states and law makers understand that there will always be people that don’t follow them. By stating programs, allowing juveniles a place to reconcile with small mistakes they make, or creating a safe-place where they can seek help from
Curfew laws provide greater safety for the residents of the city. A survey was conducted by the U.S. conference of mayors in 1995 stated that 86% of the cities believed that applying the curfew law for the youth helped make their streets safer for their residents (USCM). with more people outside being fatigued or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, curfews can help teenagers stay away from the greater risk that can come as hours gets later states Carl Pickhardt, Ph.D., a psychologist writing for Psychology Today (Hatter).
This is clear in the article entitled “Should Teens be tried as Adults?” The author states “teens sometimes do stupid things. They can make bad decisions. Their judgement is not the same as an adult. They may not be able to control their impulses as well as adults can.
Underage people are prohibiting smoking, drinking, or going in field trips without their parents’ permission. Therefore, how can a teenage girl have an abortion without the approval of her parents? Abortion itself is a controversial subject, and underage abortion is even more controversial. Minors should not have an abortion without the consent of their parents or their legal guardians for a variety of reasons.
Jason Tashea, writer for The Baltimore Sun states, “Youth delinquency primarily occurs afterschool and not during curfew hours” (1). This started a fierce debate in Baltimore, as Tashea points out,
For starters, curfew keeps children safer than usual. When you have children just roaming the streets, something bad is bound to happen. It’s always that one experimental friend that says “hey guys, let’s go try this”. Well this one statement can lead to a heap of trouble. According to a recent study done, there has been a 97 percent drop of juvenile delinquents (Seith 1). What this means is with curfew incorporated within the community the rate of children going to juvenile centers has significantly decreased.
I can give a formal warning and/or arrest the juvenile and take them to the police station and release them to their parents
A curfew can be described as an order establishing a specific time in the evening after which certain regulations apply, especially that no civilians or other specified group of unauthorized persons may be outdoors or that places of public assembly must be closed (Dictionary.com). This definition refers to the curfews that are enacted in some states throughout the United States and some countries. A curfew can also be described as a regulation requiring a person to be home at a certain prescribed time, as imposed by a parent on a child (Dictionary.com). Local city curfew laws are enforced with the intension of reducing the juvenile crime rate. On the other hand, parents enforce curfews to keep teens safe, to protect them and to save them from getting involve in illicit things.
Strict rules create rebellious teens. Many people think that curfews are a fundamental way to keeping teens out of trouble, but this is not the case. Curfews are neither applicable, justified, nor are they a way to diminish criminal activities committed by adolescents. Curfews are ultimately useless because there are too many reasons that contradict why a curfew would work.
They are out there causing trouble, drinking, smoking, and having sex. The teenagers: feared by parents all around the world. That is not the reality; the majority of teenagers will not be out looking for trouble. On a typical Friday night teenagers will be hanging out with their friends, catching up with everything that has gone on during the week. Why do parents fear for their teenager’s lives? So often we hear about violent crimes and things that go bump in the night, but do we think that the problems can be solved by a magical curfew? Can parents really keep their teenagers out of trouble or does an imposed curfew only lead to resentment and chaos? Parents think back to when you were a teenager, did you have a curfew? If so, did you follow the rules or break them? Teenagers are no more likely to follow the rules today than they were in the past. It is not likely that creating a curfew for teenagers will cut down on the risk of violence and rule breaking.
Not only can they get into trouble, but they can also run into trouble. High Schooler’s are easy targets for trouble, plain and simple. If the police have heard of a crime committed and it is late at night and they see a group of High Schoolers they will question you and maybe even bring you to the station. In 1997 9 out of 10 cities said that curfews are a good use of police officers time and 88 % observed that enforcing curfews made their streets safer. If curfews can be inflicted and put into play, students may have much more opportunities to succeed and be better than the people before them. In another example if students are home by curfew there is no reason for trouble. This keeps them safe and it keeps their friends safe.
Should teenagers be restricted to a curfew? That's a question many parents question themselves. What is my son up? What is my daughter doing? How do I know if they're safe? What time will he/she be home? When following curfews, teens tend to stay out of trouble more because criminal activity or high-risk behaviors is more likely to occur later in the evening when parental supervision is not present. Therefore teenagers need have a curfew, imposing curfews would help keep young teens out of trouble legally, set strict boundaries, and provides safety.
Strict rules create rebellious teens. Many people think that curfews are a fundamental way to keeping teens out of trouble, but this is not the case. Curfews are neither applicable, justified, nor are they a way to diminish criminal activities committed by adolescents. Curfews are ultimately useless
In today’s society, some parents create curfews for their children while others allow their children to create their own curfews. Numerous people argue that setting curfews for teenagers help them refrain from taking part in mischief and help them to develop into superior adults. The remaining group of people state that curfews would make teenagers rebel. Teenage curfews produce many different positive and negative views in parents and teenagers. Different opinions on curfews are expressed through parents, teenagers, and mayors; and there are numerous reasons for people not supporting curfews.