Curfews

Curfew

Hundreds of cities nationwide have set up and enforced strict curfews on youths being in public at night or during the school day. Curfews were set to try and lower the youth crime rate. Even though only one in six violent youth crimes occur during the curfew hours. Most violent crimes happen between two and six p.m, the highest point being around three in the afternoon. In fact, eighty percent of juvenile crime occurs between nine a.m., and ten p.m. Curfews are not an effective solution to the problem of youth crime.

Curfews have been around for hundreds of years. They were traditionally created by the upper class members of society to control the movements of the lower class. The theory behind this is that crime originates from those of the lower classes, and this will limit the amount of crimes that they can commit. It saying that an entire group of people would be considered guilty. Curfews became popular for youth in the early 1900s. The curfew bell would ring throughout the city to indicate to teenagers and children that it was time to head home.

Usually under the influence of local governments, curfews are routine in cities and towns across America.

According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In a December 1995 survey of 1,000 cities with populations of more than 30,000, the conference found that 70 percent, or 270 of the 387 cities responding, have a curfew ordinance in place. An additional 6 percent, or 23 cities, were considering adopting curfew legislation.

The times for each curfew vary from place to place, most however restrict minors to their homes or property between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. There are exceptions to this, which include if the children are accompanied by an adult, on their way to or from work, an emergency, or attending a school, or religious recreational activity. In some cities if a minor is caught out after their curfew, they may be arrested, booked and held in jail, or brought to a special curfew violation center.

The curfew laws place limitations on the liberty of the .2 of one percent of minors who commit serious crimes, but also on the remaining 99.8 percent who generally always do the right thing.

In other words, every child is a suspect. At first blush it seems that there is an irrefutable logic to curfews. After all, if you keep kids home during the night, they won't be out breaking the law. Right? (Elikann)

The fact is that it has long been acknowledged that most juvenile crime doesn't even happen during the curfew hours. Only one in six violent juvenile crimes happen during the curfew hours, which, happens to only be seventeen percent. Most violent youth crimes happen between two and six p.m. after the end of school