Horner 1

Nathan Horner
Mrs. Alldredge
English 11A
2/18/14
Curfews
When teenagers receive a restriction, it is a natural reaction for teenagers to disobey the
restriction. Aristotle said, We do things that give us more pleasure than pain. Therefore, if
something is more pleasurable than it is painful, we will do the activity that will give us pleasure.
This applies to curfews. If the theory were correct, then if the pleasure of staying out past curfew
is greater than the pain of punishment if caught, teenagers would stay out past curfew since it
offers more pleasure than the threat of punishment to offer pain. Therefore, curfews do not keep
teenagers out of trouble.
In 1976, Detroit had in place a curfew for the youth of the city. During the curfew hours,
juvenile crime only dropped 6 percent. However, it increased 13 percent in the mid-afternoon.
Nationwide, more than 80 percent of juvenile offenses take place between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m.,
outside of most curfews (Curfews Dont Keep Kids out of Trouble).
Some 300 towns and cities now have curfew laws for minors. The crime that children are
most arrested for is curfew violations with some 140,000 arrests in 1996. So most of the children
are being charged with non-violent offenses because they stayed out too late. A study by
researchers at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice looked at a variety of curfews
enforced throughout California from 1978 to 1996 and determined that counties who held strict
curfew laws did not see a decrease in youth crime (Lights Out). So while youths are charged with
disobeying the curfew, most of the serious crime is still going on.

Horner 2

In Florida, the first state to give prosecutors that power in 1981, a report from the Justice
Policy Institute found that Florida prosecutors referred some 7,000 juveniles to adult court in
1995, nearly as many as the 9,700 juveniles nationwide that judges ordered to be treated as
adults. Although they were tried as adults, most of the juveniles were charged with non-violent
offenses, and only 29 percent were charged with violent crimes (Report Critical of Prosecutors
Power over Youths).
The argument to have the curfews can be seen as a positive way to keep some of the
concerned parents children off of the street and out of danger. Although, their children would
still be in as much, or even more danger during the mid-afternoon as they would be at night.
In conclusion, curfews do not keep teenagers out of trouble. Most of the juveniles tried,
were tried with non-violent offenses. In Detroit, crime increased 13 percent during the midafternoon when a curfew was put in effect. And in Florida, only 29 percent of the charged
juveniles were convicted of violent crimes. Therefore, curfews do not keep teenagers out of
trouble.