What’s the right curfew for kids? And how would you enforce it?
Everyone has an opinion about how someone else’s children should be raised.
Some people say parents should be more firm and in control. They should set and enforce curfews. Some say those curfews should be up to the parents entirely. My kid might be more mature and responsible than yours, and entitled to more privileges.
Meanwhile, some say city-imposed curfews are the way to go. University City is considering a change to its curfew from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weeknights (but midnight on Friday and Saturday).
City Attorney John Mulligan said the proposed curfew is not meant to be punitive but rather to ensure youths’ safety by keeping them away from the later-night activities, such at bars, that cater to adults.
Meanwhile, in our follow-up story, we hear from business owners who say they’re all behind the curfew proposal. Too many kids on the street who should be homd with their parents, says one businessman.
So what is the right curfew? And how do you enforce it? Is this the most important thing cops have to do?
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
I agree kids should be in at 10 pm on weeknights. Especially if they have school. Police officers could enforce it the same way they did they 11 pm curfew. I can recall as a teenager breaking curfew a lot of times, and always when I was up to no good.
I live in the Loop and I love it. I greatly appreciate the diversity of ages and cultures that flock to this area.
Because I am a resident, I am a big supporter of this curfew! I am so excited that the city decided to take a new direction with this problem. Recently, we saw an increase in the young population hanging out in the Loop. I thought nothing of it until I started hearing kids scream at each other in restaurants, pushing each other into people (me) on the sidewalk, and generally harassing area businesses and their patrons. My concern grew to fear when some of these kids attacked a few groups of innocent bystanders at our Metro Link, beat up the same restaurant employee twice, and mugged a few people. The city stepped in and we saw immediate improvement.
Not all of these kids are bad kids, but some of them certainly are not good. I am concerned for the safety of these kids, and even more concerned about the safety of the remaining population. Unfortunately, I have little faith in the parents that are raising these kids. They obviously have no idea what their kids are doing. If they do, then I have no faith in them at all. If parents will not take care of their own kids, then we have to step in and take action to keep everyone safe.
For the youth that feel this is unfair, I am sorry. Under the age of 18, or even 21, you have no business in the Loop past 10 p.m. This leaves plenty of opportunity for you to come and enjoy what this neighborhood has to offer.
Whew, where are our priorities. Kids being out at all hours, are not what’s wrong with this country A reasonable first priority would be for us to set a curfew for politicians. I think 6:00 pm would be good,and prohibit the use of a phone after that time. If they continue to take bribes, commit other crimes, and be totally irrational the curfew can be moved to 4 pm, unless accompanied by a teen.
Our problem is the economy that was perpetrated by politicians, not teens. Get your priorities straight, Put curfews on politicians, then work our way down the teens if any need to be put on a curfew. Maybe seeing the politicians being derived of bribes, or other bennies, will be enough for the teens to not need a curfew.
PRIORITIZE11111
We had the same curfew for all our kids when they were teens. They had to be in by 10:30P.M. on school nights and midnight on weekends. We always told them that if they couldn’t get done what needed to be done by those hours than tough. We were lenient on special occasions but other than that we didn’t budge. Sure they sqwaked back then but now that they are young adults it makes for a good laugh when they reminisce about their years growing up. My daughter now admits that it was great when she needed a way to end a crummy date or to leave a boring party. She would just blame her lame parents for whatever and we were happy to supply her with that safety net.
Very well stated, Gina.
Addressing Tina’s comment: “Hey it’s the law, not me saying you have to be home at a certain time.” If more mothers and fathers were less concerned with being their child’s friend and more concerned with being the parent, we’d have more productive, contributing members of society and fewer whiners, slackers, and kids who think they are above any rules or authority.
I agree with JJK. No one should tell parents what time their kids should be home, especially not the government. Do we live in China now??? What’s going on with the goverment wanting to micromanage our lives???
As a child, I always had a curfew, but it really changed depending on the situation. For example, a 10pm curfew on school nights was routinely broken twice a week. Why? Because I had basketball games twice a week which would almost always ensure I was out until 10:30-11pm many times.
Special events I always had permission to stay out well past my normal curfew (and the cops in my small town wouldn’t enforce curfew then either).
For MY kids it will be about the same.. special events they get some leeway, otherwise they need to earn a later curfew by showing a good reason, responsibility, etc.. As my father always said, there is nothing to do after midnight except get in trouble! Its always going to be a situational thing and should be treated as such.
Curfews should be for parents and legal guardians to decide- not the government or law enforcement. Police do not have the time to track down reckless, poorly supervised kids when they have more serious things to worry about. Guardians needs to do their jobs.
I think any child under 16 should be carefully monitored by guardians. The guardian should know where the kid is at all times, require the child to check in via phone, and have a curfew of no later than 10pm or so. This of course all depends on what the kid is doing- just hanging out at a friend’s house or are they going to a concert downtown that lets out at 10 or 11 with a group of friends?
Kids 16 and older are working most likely, and if they’re not employed somewhere, guardians should teach them responsibility and work ethic by requiring them to work part-time somewhere close to home if possible. I think a kid working hard, and doing the best they can in school deserves a later curfew to midnight or so, especially if they work somewhere later than that. They should still check in with their guardians via phone when they get off of work or when they have a change of venue during their plans at night.
This all depends on the common sense of the guardian and the personality and lifestyle of the child in question… there is no black & white answer here…
I also believe it should be up to the parents.I have a son who has a few friends that are under 17 and they were here watching a movie and my son took them home and a police lady who likes to harass these kids pulled him over and told him that if she saw him with my son after curfew again she would arrest my son for endangering the welfare of a minor. The other kids parents knew they were here and were ok with it….
What do we do when parents are not taking care of their own kids? I am so happy to see that so many of you take care of your kids, but not everyone is like you. Some of these kids have no supervision or direction.
I agree, it starts somewhere else - in our community - we need programs and resources…not just law enforcement. In the meantime, what can we do to protect these kids from themselves, and us?