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The Cons of Curfews听

Lynne Bell

听听听听听听听听听听听 Are curfews a good idea? I'm not convinced that they are.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In 2002, the Town of Carlyle instituted Bylaw No. 2109, which is effectively a curfew stating that any child age 16 or under should not be in a public place within the town from the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., without the supervision of a parent or guardian. The fine for a first offense is $100 and the fine for a听 second offense is $500.

听听听听听听听听听听听 The Town of Carlyle's curfew is an entirely reasonable document and I'm sure it was instituted with great care and concern. And I must state that this is not a call to repeal the curfew.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Lately, with evening darkness falling earlier and sunrise appearing later, I'm reminded that the curfew not only addresses the prevention of potential vandalism, but also the physical safety of young people after dark.

听听听听听听听听听听听 So what's the problem?

听听听听听听听听听听听 Well, a curfew potentially takes away the responsibility from young people- to behave as law-abiding, trusted members of a community and places the burden on other, outside parties-to enforce pro-social behaviors.

听听听听听听听听听听听 The fact that Carlyle's curfew bylaw is such a reasonable document underscores the reality that meeting these expectations is something that most youngsters are capable of doing, with the help of their parents and others-without legal intervention..

听听听听听听听听听听听 Equally, the idea of a curfew-not Carlyle's, specifically-places an added burden on young people (and their families) and potentially penalizes mature, responsible kids.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Case in point: Teenagers who are deemed mature enough to care for infants and young children听 past 11 p.m. cannot walk home from a babysitting job, because of a curfew. And if the parent(s) for which they're babysitting can't leave their children to drive the sitter home, the teen in question is either unable to work, or must rely on their own parents for a ride home.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Clearly, this scenario does not foster independence for young people-either logistically or economically.

听听听听听听听听听听听 A curfew should (ideally, I know!) not be a necessity; it should instead be a last resort. Although the inevitable struggle between maturing young people and their parents is a universal one; shifting the burden of supervising the comings and goings of听 younger citizens shouldn't be the legal responsibility of a community. Curfews should be a family decision, instead of a decision made by governments.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Curfews place restrictions on everyone within the age groups they target, punishing the many because of the actions of a few. And I'm not convinced that a kid who is determined to stay out late will be deterred by any legally-mandated curfew.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Young people-like those who came before them-will have to navigate adulthood and adult responsibilities in an increasingly complex world soon enough. We need to give them the opportunity-as individuals- to grow up and face the consequences of their actions.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Curfews (however well-intentioned) only hinder this process. Most kids will rise to expectations. We, as fellow members of their communities need to let them.

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Curfews: attempting to keep community safe

By Kelly Running

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Recently Lynne and I were discussing town wide curfews for youth. It came up because someone else in the office mentioned that Carlyle actually has a bylaw for youth 16-years-old and younger, which says that they should not be out between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. in a public space without supervision from a parent or guardian.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 If youth are found out and about between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. a fine of $100 for the first offence can be issued and $500 for subsequent offences.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 This bylaw was put in place in 2002, now I wasn鈥檛 here at that time, but they must have had a reason to institute the bylaw.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Looking at the bylaw, it made me wonder if other towns have similar rules and why a town would feel the need to implement a curfew.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Now I don鈥檛 know the reasons behind the curfew in Carlyle, but as I began researching the pros and cons of a town wide curfew for youth, the majority of writings actually point to curfews being in effect for anyone under 18-years-old.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The information I found points to concerns regarding juvenile crimes on vacant streets at night. The idea of young hoodlums out to cause trouble has been and continues to be a concern when people wake up to acts of mischief in the morning.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Many people will argue that a curfew is for the parent to set, however, I鈥檝e seen kids and parents barter with time until the kid is staying out an hour than originally planned. While other parents out there don鈥檛 always enforce rules and some don鈥檛 track what their kids are doing at all.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, instead of the parents having to be the bad guy, the town making a mandatory curfew creates a different entity to answer to. After all it takes a village to raise a child and sadly in our world we鈥檝e gone away from this, yet a town wide curfew is almost like the town helping to raise your child in ensuring their safety and that they stay out of trouble.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In the United States there were 337 cities with curfews in 2000, since then the numbers have jumped to approximately 500, making it a growing trend. Although these tend to be larger cities where they are protecting youth and attempting to combat crime through the use of curfews, looking out for each other in smaller communities is important and ensuring everyone is safe comes first for them which could be a good reason to introduce a curfew.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Oftentimes many of these curfews throughout communities remain on the books, but are not enforced until issues arise, so if there were an upswing of crime in a community the curfew bylaw would be enforced, while if things are rather good it isn鈥檛 an issue.