Pro Youth Curfew

Youth Curfew? No Thank You

Legal curfews for youth are neither beneficial for the children nor the parents. The negative side effects far outweigh the benefits. Youth are viewed as a problem to society to the government. The legal youth curfew is just a speed bump in stopping crime. Majority of serious crime is not committed by children, yet they are treated as the most dangerous citizens in a city. Many of the so called benefits that parents feel they receive are actually false positives because none of the said reasons are true. Many people argue that placing a youth curfew in a community provides an abundance of advantages. Supporters of this say it provides peace of mind for parents, keeps children out of trouble, and ensures safety. However,

Although this is the effect that should be given, this usually is not the case. Instead, a false sense of security is left with the parents. If a child feels the need to truly get out of the house, he or she will find a way to do so. A legal curfew should prevent youth from acting out during the designated times, however, a majority of violent crimes committed by youth happen around the hours of 1-5 PM (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention). Is there really a sense of peace among parents if their children are still acting illegally? If a child has the true intent of committing a crime, a curfew will not stop their actions. The issue that needs to be addressed by the government is the simple fact of crime, not the hours in which the crime happens. Even if sense of peace is given to the parents, there is no trust given to the youth. This will leave these children to grow up feeling as if there has never been a chance for trustworthiness amongst

The government is taking the role of a parent by limiting the amount of time youths can spend in public. A city in Valle Platte, Louisiana has a curfew and it was noticed that the use of a curfew could not even be for the benefit of the public, instead, for revenue as each violator will be cited and forced to pay a fine (Berg). This shows that the citizens are not in the government's highest interest. It is actually the money that the whole system could be based off of. The government expects all youth to act as the perfect poster child. Placing restrictions upon all children is unfair to those that sometimes just have the urge to get out and be in the open. The government acts like the fairy godmother in Cinderella, it limits the time frame for when youth are expected to be home or face the consequences. These consequences are not fair as it is oppressing children from their natural rights. “The idea of a youth curfew is premised on the denial of rights and, in particular, the denial of freedom of movement” (White). Denying the right to travel is against each citizen's constitutional rights as an American citizen. If the United States government would like to rule as an autocracy then placing a curfew limiting the freedom of citizens is a huge step towards this system. The children are not the real problem, the government enforcing the curfew