Aurash Khajehnouri
AP English Language and Composition
Mr. Ring
7 April 2014
Teen Curfew
There is much controversy revolving around the idea of the government enforcing curfews on teenagers. Whether its the government or the parent thats enforce the curfew, many teenagers argue against it and fail to understand why its necessary. Although some believe that curfews will aid teens in staying out of crime, others believe that teens should be able to be trusted with staying out of trouble. Curfews have both benefits and drawbacks, and it should be discussed between parents and their children what time curfew should be. Also, a large disagreement regarding teen curfews is the idea that setting a curfew would be a threat to the liberties of teenagers and it would be an infringement of their parents' rights. Teenagers should have a curfew even if they are trusted by their parents because it helps establish discipline, teaches them that its not always possible to push boundaries, and keeps them out of potential danger and unwanted consequences.
One of the most compelling arguments for having teen curfews is that it ensures that they will be getting an adequate amount of sleep at night (Source A). If teenagers are coming home at two or three each night, there is no time for them to get a full night of quality sleep. Although sleep is vital to every human, it is especially vital to teenagers because they are still growing and they require that time at night to grow and re energize. Without proper amount of deep sleep, it is noticeably harder for people to function the next day because the brain needs that time to rest and regenerate. The suggested amount of sleep for teens is 9.5 hours, and although some may need that much sleep dur...
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...s, however they also question why theres only a curfew to keep teenagers safe. Many think that the safety of teens should not be placed higher than adults, and that there should be precautions to keep everyone safe, day and night.
Whether teens argue against having a curfew or not, its unquestionable that a curfew would affect them in a positive way. A curfew is not something parents inflict on their children to show their distrust, but rather a safety net set into effect in order to minimize any potential bad situations. Rather than arguing against having a curfew, teenagers should accept the fact that they have one and show responsibility by obeying it. Also, if teens do show responsibility and maturity while obeying the curfew, it would beneficial for them because their parents would be more likely to trust them in case they ever needed to extend their curfew.
As shown above, curfew laws can play a very critical role in a teenager’s life. It can assist with keeping the city safer, help them get enough sleep, and help them build their personal skill under a well-structured system routine. A lot of people might find curfew laws for teenagers unconstitutional and contradict the first amendment, so they decide not to abide with it. But by doing so, they are placing more a bigger experience to teenagers who are still working on developing their skills to take on new challenges. After all, Teenagers are the future of our society if we don’t teach, coach, direct, and offer guidance their future will be unstable and unproductive and that will affect the entire nation.
Sleep! That wonderful, blissful void between last night and this morning. Sleep is one of the most basic functions of life. Nearly all creatures must sleep in order to properly carry out tasks; teenagers are no exception. The typical teenager needs an average of nine to ten hours of sleep a night in order for their brains to be capable of working at full capacity. School starts so early that they infringe upon that basic necessity. In order for teens to receive an adequate amount of sleep, it is mandatory to enact later start times for high schools across the country.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, biological sleep patterns change throughout the stages of adolescence. ¨Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence-meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00pm.¨ (¨Teens and Sleep¨). Messing with these sleep cycles in the long run and lead to sleep disorders. Research done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests teenagers 13-18 years old should regularly sleep 8-10 hours each night for a healthy sleep. The teens who do not get a good amount of sleep are more likely to suffer from mental conditions, smoking, illicit drugs, and alcohol use. ¨Not getting enough sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks including being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs, as well as poor academic performance.¨ (¨Schools Start Too Early¨). On an NBC news story, Hilton Head Island High School moved its start time and benefits were noticeable. Students had higher test score averages and grades improved throughout the school.A study done in 2008 published in the journal of clinical sleep, found car accident rates fell by 16.5% when students were more aware on the road, not having to wake up before 7 am.
For starters, curfew keeps children safer than usual. When you have children just roaming the streets, something bad is bound to happen. It’s always that one experimental friend that says “hey guys, let’s go try this”. Well this one statement can lead to a heap of trouble. According to a recent study done, there has been a 97 percent drop of juvenile delinquents (Seith 1). What this means is with curfew incorporated within the community the rate of children going to juvenile centers has significantly decreased.
Today, teen curfews are commonplace and supported by voters. Bainbridge observes that according to Jet Magazine’s survey taken in 2011, 75% of the voters were in support of curfew laws (13). Parents arrange for young children to go to bed at an earlier time than teenagers (Psychologytoday.com). Teens receive the privilege to stay up later but this can mean that they will be out on the streets later at night. McKinny indicates that curfews are in place to protect the youth from crimes that may harm them or take the children’s lives (Time.com).
Imagine a world where there is no standard state-set curfew on every single teenager. Doesn’t that sound like the world we live in? Even though we have a state curfew, barely anyone even acknowledges it. It’s not like you hear about crimes committed by teenagers every single night because they were out past their curfew. That’s because most of us have parents. And most of them care. The government, however, chooses to disregard the fact that we have parents/legal guardians, and that it’s their job to set such rules for us.
Strict rules create rebellious teens. Many people think that curfews are a fundamental way to keeping teens out of trouble, but this is not the case. Curfews are neither applicable, justified, nor are they a way to diminish criminal activities committed by adolescents. Curfews are ultimately useless because there are too many reasons that contradict why a curfew would work.
They are out there causing trouble, drinking, smoking, and having sex. The teenagers: feared by parents all around the world. That is not the reality; the majority of teenagers will not be out looking for trouble. On a typical Friday night teenagers will be hanging out with their friends, catching up with everything that has gone on during the week. Why do parents fear for their teenager’s lives? So often we hear about violent crimes and things that go bump in the night, but do we think that the problems can be solved by a magical curfew? Can parents really keep their teenagers out of trouble or does an imposed curfew only lead to resentment and chaos? Parents think back to when you were a teenager, did you have a curfew? If so, did you follow the rules or break them? Teenagers are no more likely to follow the rules today than they were in the past. It is not likely that creating a curfew for teenagers will cut down on the risk of violence and rule breaking.
Curfews are here to stop teenagers from roaming the streets at night and causing trouble. In consideration of having a curfew for teenagers, the crime rate has greatly decreased. Many tests and studies have confirmed that curfews do keep teenagers out of trouble. Curfews have helped keep many of the streets safe and free of crime in various cities around the world, even cities in Michigan.
Should teenagers be restricted to a curfew? That's a question many parents question themselves. What is my son up? What is my daughter doing? How do I know if they're safe? What time will he/she be home? When following curfews, teens tend to stay out of trouble more because criminal activity or high-risk behaviors is more likely to occur later in the evening when parental supervision is not present. Therefore teenagers need have a curfew, imposing curfews would help keep young teens out of trouble legally, set strict boundaries, and provides safety.
There is no proof yet that youth curfews actually lower teen crime. Overall crime rate in the United States is dropping, so the decrease in teen crime is to be expected. When curfews are placed, crime is just moved from one time of the day to another (Do Curfews Punish Innocent Teens?). This is an ineffective way to stop crime, because officials are focusing on the wrong time of day.
As many people would say “Nothing good happens after midnight” A curfew is a time frame given by an authority like a parent or the government to teenagers below 18 to be home before a certain time. They were intended to limit a minors time being without supervision and to keep them off the streets during late hours. Although, curfews have been implemented to keep teenagers out of trouble, are they really effective? Do curfews keep teenagers out of trouble?
In today’s society, some parents create curfews for their children while others allow their children to create their own curfews. Numerous people argue that setting curfews for teenagers help them refrain from taking part in mischief and help them to develop into superior adults. The remaining group of people state that curfews would make teenagers rebel. Teenage curfews produce many different positive and negative views in parents and teenagers. Different opinions on curfews are expressed through parents, teenagers, and mayors; and there are numerous reasons for people not supporting curfews.
Not only can they get into trouble, but they can also run into trouble. High Schooler’s are easy targets for trouble, plain and simple. If the police have heard of a crime committed and it is late at night and they see a group of High Schoolers they will question you and maybe even bring you to the station. In 1997 9 out of 10 cities said that curfews are a good use of police officers time and 88 % observed that enforcing curfews made their streets safer. If curfews can be inflicted and put into play, students may have much more opportunities to succeed and be better than the people before them. In another example if students are home by curfew there is no reason for trouble. This keeps them safe and it keeps their friends safe.
Strict rules create rebellious teens. Many people think that curfews are a fundamental way to keeping teens out of trouble, but this is not the case. Curfews are neither applicable, justified, nor are they a way to diminish criminal activities committed by adolescents. Curfews are ultimately useless