Over the years, juvenile delinquencies have increased all over the world. These crimes are always attributed to negative peer pressures, social media influence, drug abuse, and free movement till late for teenagers. As such, most parents and law enforcers have created curfews to deter young people from committing crimes or getting in trouble. Curfews have always been controversial when it comes to using them to keep teenagers out of trouble. Curfews are restrictions imposed on people, restricting the time they spend outside their homes or public spaces at night. Teenagers have always had curfews placed upon them to protect them and ensure they do not cause any problems. Some people claim that curfews protect teenagers by keeping them safe and away from trouble, while others think that they do not; instead, they deny them their civil rights and personal exploration. Many people argue that this is taking away the teenagers’ freedom and does not solve teenage delinquency nor keep them out of trouble. Curfews do not necessarily keep teens away from trouble; instead, they can adversely affect their growth, development, and behavior.
To begin with, putting up restrictions in the form of curfews denies teenagers a chance for personal growth. It is during adolescence that teenagers start looking for what interests them and find ways to be independent and become responsible persons in society. The imposition of curfews on these kids may limit their opportunities for self-knowledge, which subsequently evokes resentment towards authority. Carr et al. note that, putting up curfews among teenagers may result in rebellion, defiance and hatred towards their parents/caregivers or authorities (610). Young people during adolescent years search for their own independence and autonomy. Imposing curfew on freedoms could instead encourage them toward rebellion since they have the urge to prove independence and they are restricted. Therefore, curfews do no keep teenagers away from trouble, instead, they can lead them to rebellion since they feel that being restricted denies them a chance for personal growth and exploration.
In addition, curfews do not keep teenagers away from trouble because they are not effective in solving the root causes to juvenile delinquency. Curfew enforcement does not deter rebellious adolescents to engage into dangerous practices/ risky behaviors (Wilson 540). Most problems/challenges experienced by troubled teenagers are caused by stressors like peer pressure, abuse, violence, and broken homes among others. It is important to help those children rather than just restrict their movements, as this would only address the superficial aspect without touching on the root causes. Society should try instead to provide social supports like counseling centers or afternoon sessions that target root causes of crime/delinquency among teenagers and not restrict their movement because curfews do not keep them away from delinquency.
By imposing a curfew, parents may feel overly safe about their children, yet this does not keep them out of trouble. Most parents may think that by introducing curfew, they are keeping their children secure from the perils of walking in town late at night and indulging in crime and substance abuse (Adams 7). Nevertheless, such feelings of safety can discourage parents from sharing with their children about being responsible when making decisions or avoiding risks. As a result, these children may become delinquents despite being locked up because while at locked up, they have enough time to plan crimes with their friends and peers through social media or phones. They later indulge in these risky behaviors any time they are set free by their parents, who strongly believe that their children are safe from trouble.
Curfews are good at restricting the time spent by juveniles in public places and streets at night. However, instead of keeping them out of trouble, they are infringing on their constitutional rights (Wilson 542). Juveniles are restricted to move freely at specific hours, and this is taking away their freedom of movement, yet there is no evidence that their freedom of movement could cause more crimes. Teenagers who wish to commit crimes or are used to delinquency will still commit crimes despite the curfews. They can do it during the day when they are left unsupervised or even during the curfew hours since the penalties are not that severe (Adams 9). Therefore, juveniles should not be denied the freedom of movement by curfews because these curfews have no effect on crime prevention in teenagers. Moreover, curfews, especially those from law enforcement agents, cannot prevent juveniles from trouble because they take away law enforcers’ time playing cat-and-mouse games with juveniles on the streets while some serious crimes are being committed somewhere else. Crimes committed by juveniles are done during the day and not at night when curfews are imposed (Wilson 540). Therefore, since most of crimes by juveniles occur during the day, why should curfews imposed on them and infringe their constitutional rights?
Opponents argue that curfews should be imposed on teenagers to prevent them from delinquency and keep them out of trouble. They insist that when teenagers are restricted, they stay at home, and this way, they cannot indulge in crime and other risky behaviors. According to Patalinghug et al., it is rare to find teenagers under curfew indulging in crimes, substance abuse, violence, and other risky behaviors because their movement and activities are monitored (77). Opponents insist that teenagers with no curfew cause trouble because they have no rules to follow and can stay out till late and cause trouble. In contrast those with curfews have set schedules on when to be in the house and so they track everything they do and cannot be found out late causing trouble (Carazza et al., 561). Nonetheless, there are very few evidences which can prove that curfews make the youth commit fewer crimes or to never commit crimes. Much of juvenile-related crime takes place in the afternoon, not at night, when curfew is imposed for most teenagers. In addition, those locked up are the people who organize crimes, while those free to move to commit these crimes, and this makes them no different. Therefore, parents/guardians should find better ways to keep teenagers out of trouble instead of locking them up in the name of curfew.
Curfews cannot prevent teenagers from substance abuse, teenage pregnancies, and several other criminal activities. Proponents of curfews argue that they prevent teenagers from trouble because they make them more disciplined and to stay away from activities that cause them trouble (Patalinghug et al., 77). Curfews are enforced to ensure that teenagers do not have an opportunity to get into trouble, regardless of what they spend their time doing. Their fear of being punished for not observing the curfew makes them not participate in these activities after dusk. Opponents think that although curfews may appear to be unfair, curfews contribute greatly towards discouraging young people from engaging in delinquent activities over time (Carazza et al., 562). However, curfews cannot achieve all this because, at this age, most teenagers want to explore their bodies and different activities, and nothing, even curfews, can stop them. They are always curious to experience different activities, and they will always find time to do these things, and they, in turn, get into trouble. For instance, most curfews are imposed at night, and this gives teenagers enough time to meet early and indulge in drugs, violence, sexual activity, and several other activities before the curfew time starts. In addition, with or without curfew, teenagers with negative influences or who love indulging in crime or substance abuse will always end up in trouble despite being restricted. Therefore, curfews do not keep teenagers away from trouble/crime because they lack the ability to address the root cause of juvenile delinquency (Wilson 540). Law enforcers and other stakeholders should focus on ensuring teenagers’ freedom of movement and speech is not violated by curfews because they do not keep them out of trouble.
In conclusion, one can conclude that there is an obvious rationale for enforcing curfews on teenagers when the real question should be: do they work? Although initiating curfews has a good motive, it does not stop teens from getting into mischief. Therefore, society should concentrate on tackling the root of teenage delinquency as opposed to applying curfews. Curfews deprive juveniles of developmental benefits, yet it does little to combat criminal behavior. Now, it is about time we change course and move towards inclusive strategies that promote, not confine adolescents. Teenage behavior is profoundly affected by curfews. In essence, curfews cannot be used as mitigation measures against juvenile delinquency because they cannot keep teenagers out of trouble.
Works Cited
Adams, Kenneth. “Types of Parents in Relation to Juvenile Curfew Violations.” Justice Policy Journal 17.1 (2020): 1-13.
Carazza, Luís, da Mota Raul Silveira Neto, and Emanuel Lucas. “Juvenile Curfew and Crime Reduction: Evidence from Brazil.” Papers in Regional Science 100.2 (2021): 561-579.
Carr, Jillian B., and Jennifer L. Doleac. “Keep the Kids Inside? Juvenile Curfews and Urban Gun Violence.” Review of Economics and Statistics 100.4 (2018): 609 618.
Patalinghug, Mark E., et al. “Curfew Implementation: Extent, Impact, Problems and Solutions in a Town in the Philippines.” International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences 16.1 (2021): 64-83.
Wilson, David B., Mazerolle Lorraine, and Neyroud Peter. “Campbell Collaboration Systematic Reviews and the Journal of Experimental Criminology: Reflections on the last 20 years.” Journal of Experimental Criminology 17 (2021): 539-544.
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