Curfews for teens.

[Arkacia]

There is a discussion on another forum I visit about a town/city (can't remember which) in the USA considering a curfew between the hours of 9pm and 6am for its teenagers. The Gold Coast in Australia has also brought up the idea to combat violent teen gangs.

The question is though, would curfews work?
Personally I don't think they will as most of the small numbers of teens causing or getting into trouble come from homes where the parents don't give a stuff what their kids do or where they are. On the Gold Coast these idiot parents are dropping their 13 to 17 year olds off at "park parties" armed with plenty of alcohol. I can't see them making their kids obey a curfew. The teens most affected by this would be the majority who don't cause or get into trouble. Why punish them?

As we have a lot of teen members I am wondering what you think of this and do you as teens think a curfew would have any effect.

[Skeletor]

I'm not a teen but i don't think that having curfews will make any difference whatsoever, except cause more trouble because the teens (already rebelling against everything) will feel that they are being victimised, and I'd have to agree.. What about the pub crew? the guys and girls that are over 18 and up to N# that go out to pubs and clubs and cause trouble, all that is happening is the teens are getting into this nasty vicious circle and one day they will find themselves in police cells. The roots of why these problems are happening need to be addressed, but thats an impossibilty i guess, no sense trying to educate people who simply rebel because they feel they are in a down and out part of the world and have no hope of ever making anything of themselves. Hell send em to Africa and show them the real dark side of modern civilisation..maybe then they will appreciate what they have got and not what they haven't.

[JoeN]

I don't think a curfew is needed at all. When i was a teen i would sneak out of my house and hang out with my friends (we didn't do anything illegal) and we would just walk around town and talk. We would also go into any 24 hour store and look around sometimes cause trouble but we would buy food and go outside and chill. There's nothing wrong with what we did we weren't smoking pot, drinking, or do anything that would warrent the cops to be involvled. We would cause some trouble but we knew when we took it too far or when enough was enough. The only time we drank we did it at someones hosue when their parents weren't home adn we wouldn't drink to get smashed just enough to feel the buzz and we would chill inside, but we didn't want to get into any sort of trouble cause if we did we wouldn't hear the end of it from our parents. Our parents weren't these soft parent of todays society they punished us and i mean punished us.

So, now with the curfew thing. These kids that go out get drunk and drive, destroy property, kill people, street race and so on. They deserve to get punished by the police. But sometimes they don't learn there lesson and they go out and do over an over. Why? Because most of them have parents that don't care what they do. Well I think it should also be taken a step further and punish the parent of these kids. I think the message would reach the parents and they would have more responiblity. I don't know about the rest of the world but i think thats what the problem is in America irresponibllity.

[Freakums]

I agree with aarkacia, but, a curfew could work if you haver good and straight police officers in this way:
the curfew is made, then not enforced, and people arte openly told not to care too much about it.
alright. nothing. excpet it gives police the right to arrest or send home any teenagers who are known trouble makers or appear to be judgement-impaired in someway, or have performed minor trouble0making and display that they are going to do more.
y'see, usually the police aren't allowed to arrest or send home at that point.
I don;t know hopw that would actually work, but (i think) in ideal conditions it would work.
oh, and also, worried people could also call and request (no pressure from the law on the police, though) that certainb teens be picked up.
we have a minor system like that for known trouble makers who appear to be judgement impaired or might plan to cause trou7blke, etc. works well.

[HinesDaMan]

Give me a break, curfews would work as well as the laws to prevent underage drinking and drug use. In other words, not at all. Cops can't stop any car they see, so as long as teens are safe drivers at night, they can effectively stay under the radar--both literally and figuratively--and thus stay out past nine. Also, I have a feeling that places like restaurants and movie theatres, bowling alleys, and the like would protest this law because a lot of their late-night business is teenage business. Curfews are imposed where I live only for teeange drivers under 17, and even then you only have to be off the road by midnight, but a 17 year old or older could drive you around. That is effectively enforced, but in reality it prevents nothing, as all other curfews would.

[rokuta]

telling teens to stop doing something would only cause them to do it, or to do it mores

[yarnellcg17]

Back 25 yrs ago when I was 15..we had no curfew..legal age to drink was 18
Basically was no reason to have a curfew in place..at 2am I could walk down town and back undisturbed by police in not to small of a town USA.. By late summer 1983 curfew was established and later that year my state raised the drinking age to 19.. You could still buy tobacco products under age 18 til Sept 1984.. Problems before those implements..no.. Problems after them..yes..
Percentages of incidents were 0..then the increase of incidents came along with each phase..if you were a teen under 18 working past curfew..well you weren't considered just doing your job..you were considered as breaking law..
Raising the drinking age was to lower teen traffic fatalities..percentages weren't high at the time and those older then 21 were higher.. in 1989 my state again raised the drinking age (to 21) but if you were constitutionally of legal age to vote and serve your country at 18..then that should have been really left alone..
Some of what gets implemented can do more worse then better..we found that out when Prohibition was implemented 75 yrs ago..

[bandgeek]

I'm a teenager. I don't think that having a curfew would be a good thing. We already have curfews on teens that drive. As some of you all have already said... Only putting up a law like that will make teenagers to break it. My mom and dad gives me rules and sometimes I break them because I think they or stupid or just to see why I can't do that because it sounds stupid. The idea of having a curfew sounds stupid to me because us teens have a right to hang out at night just like the adults do. We're supposed to have freedom. Taking away our night is taking away some of our freedom. Plus. If you want to go out to a movie with your boy/girlfriend you couldn't go and have dinner and a movie. You'd never get to the movie. Or if you wanted to go to the drive-in. At our drive in here the movies don't even start till 9:30. So... I don't see the point in even having a drive-in movie then.

[JsWoman]

In some instances, don't take this the wrong way, I think a curfew is a good thing. If it is implemented the way its supposed to be, it gives the adults in charge of you more of an idea of where you are. But, as has been mentioned, the police can't fully, or even close to fully, enforce it, so, for that reason alone, having a curfew is stupid. But, as it is for most teens, they are usually done goofing off by midnight, unless school is out.

But, to say you can't do something, i.e. drink, smoke, do drugs, stay out late, etc., makes the one being told "you can't do that" want to try harder to do it. So, in the end, its a very ineffective law to have.

Sorry if I'm repeating stuff other people have said or being long winded, but wanted to say my piece.

[yarnellcg17]

It's quite alright..
We definitely see a trend in how things go and backfire..either way..

[JsWoman]

Yep. Might be good ideas, but can't be enforced, so, in these cases, what's the point? That's my take, although someone else might not think they are good ideas, at all.

[yarnellcg17]

Yes..Either way we are gonna think what is the use in doing so..but I think with all things that would be true too.. We learn by what we do..if we don't..then no can be to blame for that then the people who prescribe such laws..ordinances..etc..

[JsWoman]

Yes, this is true. I mean, there are a lot of laws that are supposedly in effect, but can't be enforced, or stopped being enforced, even though it's still in the books. (Australia and the death sentence as an example)

[ender1626]

My state has never implemented a curfew as far as i know. When i was a teen i was almost always out late with my cousin and we never had anything said to us. Also there was never any real account ov teen violence reported in my state.

[JsWoman]

You're lucky that you never had to worry about a state (county or city or whatever) curfew. Made it a bit easier on you, I would imagine.

[yarnellcg17]

Yeah..even in some small towns today..alot of curfews aren't really a worry or in place..and even if they are in place..most really are not enforced..

[JsWoman]

Yeah, is normal, in the bigger cities that it isn't enfoced, even when it is there. But I know some of the smaller towns do have those, at least they used to. :rolleyes: I know that I had a curfew in my town, and it was enforced.

[pxskate]

friday and weekend- whenever before morning
weekdays-8:30 thats just when i have to be home

[tinmanwcf]

Yea , Im in the USA, and I think it probably wouldnt work, I DO think though, thats ITS TIME parents do the right thing, and no reason a teenager needs to be out at night anyway, again the parents need to stay in touch better with there kids,I no when i was a kid,,,believe you me, If i did something wrong I would get My butt whipped, now days the kids no they can call the law on there parents an claim abuse,,,, sad but true.