Teenage Curfew Laws Should Be Removed

788 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Curfews and teens

A curfew is a regulation requiring people, specifically minors, to remain indoors between specified hours. These restrictions can sometimes cause more problems between a city that enforces the curfew and a teenager that mistakenly breaks it. A recent lawsuit has been filed against the city of Wanaque, New Jersey. The lawsuit says Shaina Harris, a 16-year old Wanaque resident, left her home on Lake Drive on the night of September 22, 2013 with her mother's permission. She then walked an estimated, 200 feet, to buy a milkshake at Burger King on a nearby street. Around 11:30 that night she was spotted leaving the Burger King by police Sgt. Angelo Calabro, who informed the girl she was violating the curfew law and told her to call her parents. Her stepfather walked across the street and picked her up, and then went home. Harris may face a fine of one hundred dollars and possible fifteen hours of community service if she is convicted. The main reason that the curfew laws are present today is to keep a certain group of people, specifically teenagers, out of trouble and possibly committing crimes. Hundreds of cities have curfews, encouraged in part by support in the 1990s from President Bill Clinton. A survey taken by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in the late 1990s found that the overwhelming majority of city leaders considered such laws worthwhile (Cowen). Teenage curfew laws should be removed because they are unjust and ineffective.
Curfews do not prevent teenage crimes. For instance, an article that explains the statistics of teenage crime; it mentioned that, “The number of school days in a year is essentially equal to the number of non-school days in a year. Despite this split, most violent crimes (63%) are committed by juvenile...

... middle of paper ...

...om/>.
Cowen, Richard. "ACLU Sues Wanaque Over Teen Curfew." The Record 8 Mar. 2013: L.3. Sks.sirs.com. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. .
"Google." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. .
Jackson, Emily. "'Family Friendly' Mall Bans Minors After 6 P.m." Toronto Star 12 May 2012: A2. Sks.sirs.com. Web. 2 Nov. 2013. .
"Juvenile Violent Crime Time-of-day Profiles." Juvenile Violent Crime. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. .
Visser, Steve. "Curfew Crackdown Targets More Parents." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 9 Aug. 2013: A1. Sks.sirs.com. Web. 2 Nov. 2013. .
Zernike, Kate. "Youth Driving Laws Limit Even the Double Date." New York Times 14 Aug. 2012: A1. Sks.sirs.com. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. .

Show More
Related

  • James Baldwin's Harlem Riots

    1339 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Curfew In Harlem Relaxed to 11:30" : The New York Times. August 4, : 8.

    Read More

  • Legal Driving Age in the State of Iowa

    2135 Words  | 5 Pages

    Davis, Robert. (2005, March 3). USA Today. “Is 16 too young to drive a car?”

    Read More

  • Excessive Curfew Law On The City Of Des Moines

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cities that have curfew law experience fewer teens’ crimes and victimization. When Lake County had an issue with teens’ crimes, the police department forced curfews for teens under 16 years old (Courtney). As a result, Lake County Sheriff reported that the number of teen crimes decreased (Courtney). Moreover, a study research for 54 U.S cities with 180,000 or more residents has been done by the University of California shows that youth arrests dropped by 10 percent.

    Read More

  • Male vs. Female Offenders: Should They Receive the Same Punishment?

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many crimes committed by teenagers every year. Crimes that are committed by teens each year are mainly assault, bullying, gang violence, and physical fights. According to National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, about 1 and 9 murders are from kids that are under 18 (Center, 2001). In 1998, there were approximately 2,570 among youth aged 10-19. Every day there are at least 7 children murdered in the United States (Center, 2001). Statistics say that between 16%-32% female teenagers have committed a crime before the age of 17. Also 30%-40% male teenagers have committed a violent crime before they turned 17 (Center, 2001). Teenagers that commit crimes are the ones who were abused or bullied as a...

    Read More

  • Juvenile Homicide: A Search for Acceptance

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Snyder, Howard N., and Melissa Sickmund. "Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report.” Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Mar 2006. Web. 16 Jan 2012. .

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech On Lowering The Drinking Age To 18

    1567 Words  | 4 Pages

    Time to Lower the Drinking Age? U.S. News -. U.S. News & World Report, L.D., 07 May, 2014. Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • Keeping the Youth out of Trouble Afterhours

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Curfews don't keep teens out of trouble at night. Making more trouble by forcing them to stay in the house. They'll sneak out the house any time at night to go to a party, or have fun. Sneaking out the house past their curfew; with their parents thinking their child's in bed. When the parent finally notices that the child is missing they will have no idea where their child's at.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of the film Step Up 2: The Streets

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edwards, Ceri. "STEP UP 2 THE STREETS." TheweekJun 15 2008. ProQuest. Web. 16 Mar. 2014 .

    Read More

  • Juvenile Crime

    1973 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ted Gest with Victoria Pope, “Crime Time Bomb: Seeking solutions to rising juvenile crime,” U.S. News, 3/25/96

    Read More

  • Juveniles Tried in Court

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Hard Times; Juvenile Crime." Student Resources in Contex 26 October 2013: 2. web. 20 NOvember 2013.

    Read More

  • Do Curfews Keep Teens Out of Trouble?

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is some debate on whether curfews keep teenagers out of trouble. A curfew is defined as a law or regulation that requires a person or group of people must stay indoors for a designated time, usually through the night. Curfews usually apply to teenagers and are there to help keep them out of trouble and keep them safe. City regulations have different views on curfew times and age groups. For example, a 13 year old will need to go indoors earlier than a 17 year old. Usually a curfew is set at about 11 p.m., but can also be set for in the daytime. In consideration of having a curfew for teenagers, the crime rate has greatly decreased.

    Read More

  • Why Your Teens Needs A Curfew

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    How can a curfew keep my young teenager from doing illegal activities? Having a curfew provides teens with a limited amount of time to commit any criminal offenses.

    Read More

  • Should the Driving Age be Raised to 21?

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    76-82. The 'Secondary' of the 'Se Print. The. Keilman, John, and Grace Aduroja. Raise Driving Age?

    Read More

  • The Positive and Negative Effects of the Curfew in Northbridge

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...In conclusion while there is negative attributes towards the Northbridge curfew, the curfew demonstrates how there was a need for action against juvenile violence and crime. Although the policy needs to be tweaked so that juvenile rights are taken more into consideration the curfew is put in place to make the community feel more comfortable and safe in its night time environment. With all the evidence provided into the Northbridge curfew it is prone that a city wide curfew is introduced to help the youth of Western Australia by limiting violent actions and violence against the youth. As stated by the Western Australian Government’s Office of Crime Prevention, “Our children and young people are the future of our State. They require nurturing, support and protection to ensure that they achieve personal success and make a valuable contribution to society” (OCP, 2009).

    Read More

  • Benefits Of Juvenile Curfew

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to examine juvenile curfew. Curfews have been in place for many years. In the 1700s, curfew was put in place for slaves and workers. Now, since the 1990s, juvenile curfew has become a popular policy across the nation in hopes that it will reduce crime while also protecting the welfare of a minor. Though that may be the sole purpose, there have been critiques about the implementation of juvenile curfew. Some may say that it creates a safer community while others may conclude that it is biased and does not work. First, this paper will provide some of the reasons in which curfew is being used. Second, some of the consequences that come along with juvenile curfew will be stated. Then, the various forms of the curfew

    Read More

More about Teenage Curfew Laws Should Be Removed

Open Document