Adolescent Discrimination: Curfew Laws.
Everyday in America, innocent teenagers are being treated like criminals, as police interrogate them for no better reason than because they are young. This adolescent group, defined generally as persons between the age of thirteen and eighteen, isn't generally treated as children, but isn't taken seriously yet as adults. Though teenagers may be minors, they are still citizens of the United States and not exempt from their God-given constitutional rights. These teenagers already must deal with the difficult transition from childhood to adulthood in which our society views them as a generation with no purpose and no drive, associated with sexuality, rock and roll, fast cars, alcohol, drugs, and crime. It is fair to say that other groups have been discriminated in our society in the past and even now, such as African Americans, women, and the elderly, but at least these groups have a voice. Teenagers don't even have the right to vote and have their interests represented. One of the worst cases of discrimination against teenagers is that of a government-instituted curfew for persons under eighteen. This absurdly obvious form of discrimination continues today despite the facts that it is a clear violation of the Constitution, it punishes law abiding teenagers, it wastes the valuable resources of our police department, it strips parents of their fundamental responsibility, and has proven ineffective as a means of reducing crime. As Congressmen and women of our country, it is your responsibility and obligation to eradicate these laws and give teenagers back the rights that have been stripped from them.
The Constitution guarantees in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights that, "Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people peaceably to assemble" (Bill of Rights). Most of us take this right for granted everyday. Our country has been blessed to live in freedom, but only so long as you are over eighteen.
