Picture allowing your fifteen year old child go out for the night, never giving them a certain time to be home. You assume that they’re somewhere hanging out with friends, but do you really know what they truly are up to? When your child doesn’t answer your calls or text messages throughout the night, do you get worried sick waiting? What if they are injured? What if they are causing a ruckus? Can a fifteen year old really handle themselves on their own around the time the clock strikes midnight? According to UTV News, this past Halloween, a young girl was raped by a man wearing a ‘bloody’ mask, dressed in all black, resembling the murderer of the Scream horror films. This girl would not be scarred for the rest of her life if she had not been out at 1 a.m. Wouldn’t the worry of events like this disappear if your child had a rule to be home at a certain time where you didn’t have to wonder what they were doing, who they were around, and what events were occurring? Teenagers should have a curfew in effect unless accompanied by a guardian or having a legitimate reason to be outside of their residency.
Curfews are necessary to keep teenagers out of trouble. A study by the New York Youth Media Watch found that teens were more likely to get into trouble late at night rather than in daylight. The Lakeland Ledger, a Detroit newspaper, from December 1988, reported that a 15 year old boy broke into a 33 year old woman’s home, sexually assaulting and beating her with a baseball bat; only to receive money to buy crack. The Wayne County police never found that crack searching child who broke in. Almost six years later in 1994, HeinOnline.com reported that in Atlanta, Georgia, a sweet, innocent, four year old child lay asleep when she became a victim of a drive- by shooting caused by teens in the early morning hours. How could anyone not want to see justice for these two innocent beings? If there were a curfew instated at the time of these incidents, it is almost a guarantee that these crimes would have never occurred. Since then, Detroit and Atlanta both created a curfew for teenagers at 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends.
(Pensacola's new curfew discussed, curbing teen violence)
Curfews assure parents that their children are safe and unharmed at night. The threat of crime on teenagers is high because they are more vunerable to their offenders, making the crimes much more dangerous. Deputy city attorney of Atlanta, Overtis Hicks Brantley, believes that lives can be saved due to curfew. Before Atlanta’s switch to curfew in 1994, a thirteen year old boy was gunned down on a street corner at 4 a.m., in a case of mistaken identity. Night time events are very hard to predict. It goes to show you that anything can change in a split second. Violence against children at night is everywhere and it can only be solved by installing a curfew plan for a city. In a 1996 Statistical Study, Issues and Controversies found that crimes carried out by adult offenders against teens was between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Why let your child be out at 11 o’clock on a Friday night if you know that is one of the peak times adult offenders attack the young? The best idea is to let the government’s rule safeguard your children from dangers at night.
Teen curfews are proven to keep communities safer. The Issues and Controversies study also found that 96 percent of city officials believe that their curfews are very effective against juvenile crimes. The study also reported that in Phoenix, Arizona, juvenile arrests, including homicide, rape, robbery, and assault declined 10 percent after following the “footsteps” of Dallas curfew. In fact, after curfews were implemented in San Diego, Dallas, and New Orleans, violent crimes against juveniles dropped by 40 percent. As well, 79 percent of teens in the Washington D.C. area believed the 11 o’clock curfew, reducing crime, was more important than protecting young peoples’ rights. If majority of teenagers are understanding that curfew is served to protect them, what is there to argue? Of course, being out with your guardians, coming home from work, or having a legitimate reason for being out late isn’t considered a crime. You must have a clear reason for being out at night, or else breaking curfew it is.
The other side of my argument believes that the government is trampling the rights of teenagers. In November of 1993, Dallas’ curfew was upheld, ruling that curfew was in effect to “prevent juvenile crime and victimization”. Issues and Controversies article Teen Curfews also reported that after the case of Qutb vs. Strauss, granting Dallas curfew, 67 percent of United States cities, including Washington D.C., issued night time curfews for teens. Dangers are on the street late at night, even Arelis Morron, mother of two teenage girls, agrees as she discussed curfew with the Gotham Gazette. She states that its “very dangerous to be out so late at night, especially for girls.” She carries on, bringing up a valid point that “there are many men out there with perverted thoughts [of young girls] and will not let anything stand in their way to accomplish them.” If curfew is here to protect your children, how is it trampling them? Not having them is almost their rights to safety and protection from crime.
(Philadelphia's new curfew: After violent teen flash mob leads to a push for a safer community)
Next time your child asks you to stay out late on a Friday night, ask them where they’re going and who they’re gonna be with. Most importantly, make sure that your teen is back before curfew is enforced. It will undoubtedly keep them out of trouble and victimization themselves. It’s obvious to see that curfew should be in effect to ensure security, lifting weight off of many parents shoulders. Of course, some nights, teens work late or you might take them out to an event; that’s understandable. Curfew is here to back you up for those times you worry most. It eliminates all problems that can possibly occur if your child is out on the streets late at night.
