Curfew

            Adolescence is a time for children to mature and grow into young adults. But the enactment of curfews limits adolescents from achieving their goals. Curfew is a set time when teenagers are prohibited on the streets. Some feel that curfews are vital in keeping down juvenile crime and are beneficial because it forces kids home at late hours during which most crimes are committed. It also allows parents to keep a closer eye on their kids. Others feel that curfews are unconstitutional and take away children's independence in society. Those opposed of curfew laws feel that the majority of children are being punished by the fault of the few, these laws are taking the parental rights away, and also the police officers are putting their time and efforts into a useless cause.
             As a result, "curfews punish virtually every good teenager, while doing very little to stop the relatively small number of violent juvenile offenders . The only kids that the curfew keeps off the streets are the ones who already obey the law," stated Linda Hills, Executive Director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. Some teenagers have legitimate reasons to be out after curfew. For example, some adolescents volunteer their services in local hospitals and senior citizen homes. These activities entail teenagers to be out past curfew hours, but by law they have to be in their house by a certain hour. This in turn limits the amount of services that allow the community to grow, because teenagers are a vital part of the future. Those for curfew laws would say that teenagers should then volunteer their services immediately after school or on the weekends. Not realizing many students have prior commitments such as a part time job or extracurricular activities that will help further their education.
             Parents feel that it is their right to decide whether or not their children should attend certain activities and what times these activities should be attended.