Daytime Curfew For Teens

[LUV2EDU]

What is your opinion on daytime curfew laws for teens?

 

The American Civil Liberties Union, parents of homeschooled children, and some parents of public-school students, feel that such laws in effect "criminalize otherwise law-abiding kids who may have good reasons for not being in school."

 

Some of the complaints have been that "Homeschoolers, kids who attend private schools on different schedules than the public schools are targets to be stopped. Even public school kids within the same district who might be on year round schedules (or visa versa) will be detained with the assumption of guilt until proven innocent."

 

Full Story:http://www.homeedmag.com/blogs/newscomm/3017/wsj-more-cities-targeting-teens-with-daytime-curfew/

[Peek a Boo]

What is your opinion on daytime curfew laws for teens?

 

I agree that they make criminals out of innocent civilians.

 

or as someone mentioned: "How does giving a kid a criminal record and a hefty fine keep them from becoming criminals and staying in school [when they have to find a way to earn the money to pay the penalty]?"

 

There are already plenty of laws on the books that cops can use to bust kids doing the wrong thing.

I'm glad our mayor is not only a homeschooler, but a smart guy w/ sound influence. It's been shot down in our community.

 

eta: that being said, Glenn Heights has a daytime curfew that specifically exempts homeschoolers and puts a burden on the police to NOT issue a citation if they have reason to believe any of the defenses to prosecution apply. However, i don't know their history other than giving tickets to homeowners for having a cat running at large [when her cat was sleeping ON HER FRONT PORCH- it was unrestrained].

I'll be watching it closely around here. We go into Dallas quite a bit.

Edited April 5, 2009 by Peek a Boo

[LUV2EDU]

A woman once told me how a 20 year old woman, who was power walking in her own neighborhood, was stopped and questioned by the police. Since she left her id at home, she was taken down to the station and later released once her age was verified.

[Peek a Boo]

A woman once told me how a 20 year old woman, who was power walking in her own neighborhood, was stopped and questioned by the police. Since she left her id at home, she was taken down to the station and later released once her age was verified.

 

i was told by the police yeeeears ago that there was some sort of "national omnibus act" that required all citizens carry proper ID. haven't checked it out...

[LUV2EDU]

i was told by the police yeeeears ago that there was some sort of "national omnibus act" that required all citizens carry proper ID. haven't checked it out...

 

It seems that each state has their own laws on carrying an ID. If a police officer in the state of Texas ask for your ID (your not driving) and you don't have one on you, the officer has the right to detain you until they can verify who you are.

[Carrie12345]

My private community was talking about enacting a daytime curfew for anyone under 18, and I pretty much went bananas on them.

 

We do have a serious problem with vandalism, so I understand *why they were talking about this. They tried telling me they'd keep a list of homeschoolers so they could verify their "right" to be out during the day, and couldn't understand why that wasn't good enough for me.

 

They eventually came around when I pointed out that our community spans 4 school districts with different holiday schedules and multiple schools within districts that have different time frames. When they realized how time consuming verification would be, they shut up.

 

We have our own security force. If they see someone (of any age) doing something wrong, they should stop them. Walking down the street or playing at the park isn't "something wrong".:glare:

[Ellie]

It's offensive. I'm stunned that our lawmakers would come up with such a thing, and that citizens would not rise up in protest over it.

[Nestof3]

I am guessing we will see more of this as time goes on. I honestly don't have the energy to express all of my thoughts on this, but I will say that I am depressed by the breakdown I see regarding family, respect for parents and authority, attitudes, responsibility and so forth.

 

Our oldest always got so tired of being lumped in with "those teenagers." He got tired of people assuming he really wanted to rebel against us, he got tired of people assuming he was sowing his wild oats, he got tired of people assuming he disliked his parents. He got tired of comments like, "Well, you know teenagers."

 

The whole thing is truly insulting for young adults who are actually of good character.

[Harriet Vane]

I cannot imagine why we would voluntarily restrict the right of any citizen of this country to freely move about unless they have actually committed a crime. It especially makes me angry that such a law would be based on the arbitrary schedule of one segment of the population (public school children)--a schedule that changes from district to district and that is unique from both private and home school students' schedules. There is no way to standardize this law, which makes compliance very difficult. I firmly oppose curfews.

[MamaT]

I can't for the life of me understand why people would think this was okay. I think maybe people in our country have gotten so used to their rights being whittled away one by one that they're just numb to it. Very scary and sad to me.

[LUV2EDU]

I cannot imagine why we would voluntarily restrict the right of any citizen of this country to freely move about unless they have actually committed a crime. It especially makes me angry that such a law would be based on the arbitrary schedule of one segment of the population (public school children)--a schedule that changes from district to district and that is unique from both private and home school students' schedules. There is no way to standardize this law, which makes compliance very difficult. I firmly oppose curfews.

 

:iagree::iagree:

[Greta]

What is your opinion on daytime curfew laws for teens?

 

The same as it would be regarding a curfew law based on skin color. It's blatantly discriminatory and immoral to put an entire segment of society under house arrest without due process.

[SherryTX]

I can't for the life of me understand why people would think this was okay. I think maybe people in our country have gotten so used to their rights being whittled away one by one that they're just numb to it. Very scary and sad to me.

 

Yes - I think that is part of the problem!

I am against a day time curfew. Actually I am against ANY kind of curfew - those should be saved for people that have already demonstrated they shouldn't be out late (such as prior trouble making history, etc.).

 

I think it shows a general lack of respect for individuals over all. And it sends a dangerous message to teenagers that they cannot be trusted because of their age.

[coffeefreak]

What is really frustrating is, it hurts EVERYONE, not just homeschoolers. When I was in highschool, if I had a Dr's appointment, I had to drive myself. Both my parents were working and my Mom was also going to school full time. The school would call the Dr to verify my appointment, and I was let go. I would even go pick up my own prescriptions. If there was a curfew, what would I have had to do? Give a Dr's note to the police? Also, our school district had (and still has) an excellent program for those who weren't college bound. There were area businesses willing to hire students starting their Jr year to teach them on the job skills. Those students were released at noon. This was a great program for many of my classmates. Had there been a daytime curfew, what would they have had to carry to verify they were in this program? Why should they even have to prove it?

 

This is definitely a trend. Our new Handbook for the state is mostly about truant laws. The state asked us to list the birth dates of our children. This is not a requirement, but we were encouraged by HSLDA to comply because the State Dept of Ed has said they are willing to go to the legislature if they have to to enforce this. Ridiculous! Why are they wasting their money on us? It's not the homeschoolers that are a problem! Anyway, our state is enforcing more and more regulations for the sake of the public school child, but they refuse to exclude homeschoolers from the new laws. Therefore, we are being regulated by default.

 

:rant:

 

OK, I'm done :)

Blessings,

Dorinda

[Mommyof4ks]

I can't for the life of me understand why people would think this was okay. I think maybe people in our country have gotten so used to their rights being whittled away one by one that they're just numb to it. Very scary and sad to me.

 

:iagree:

 

The only people that will obey the curfew are those that would not have broken any laws anyway, and if someone (even a minor) is committing a crime they can be questioned and taken into police custody anyway. I just don't see the point of a curfew.

[Heather in Neverland]

I can't for the life of me understand why people would think this was okay. I think maybe people in our country have gotten so used to their rights being whittled away one by one that they're just numb to it. Very scary and sad to me.

 

:iagree:

[LUV2EDU]

Yes - I think that is part of the problem!

I am against a day time curfew. Actually I am against ANY kind of curfew - those should be saved for people that have already demonstrated they shouldn't be out late (such as prior trouble making history, etc.).

 

I think it shows a general lack of respect for individuals over all. And it sends a dangerous message to teenagers that they cannot be trusted because of their age.

 

:iagree:

[Janet in WA]

Not long ago, our city announced that minors would be banned from our public libraries during school hours.

 

It seems that the location of some of our libraries makes them popular places for kids to hang out while skipping class.

 

As soon as I saw that announcement in our local paper, I knew the powers-that-be hadn't even thought about homeschoolers, and soon wouldn't know what had hit them. Sure enough, it wasn't long before they were announcing that this ban wasn't going to happen -- and, yes, it was because homeschoolers had let them have it with both barrels.

[LUV2EDU]

Yes - I think that is part of the problem!

I am against a day time curfew. Actually I am against ANY kind of curfew - those should be saved for people that have already demonstrated they shouldn't be out late (such as prior trouble making history, etc.).

 

I think it shows a general lack of respect for individuals over all. And it sends a dangerous message to teenagers that they cannot be trusted because of their age.

 

They act like teenagers are the only ones who can cause mischief.

[sleepy]

I find the idea repugnant, and unconstitutional.

[KidsHappen]

I am fundementally opposed to the very idea. I had one child who got in trouble for being out at 5:30 am because night time curfew here doesn't end until 6:00. I was very upset as I didn't even know that we had a curfew. I am still not very happy about it as curfew starts at 10:00 pm on school nights. We are a night time family who frequently makes trips to Blockbuster and Taco Bell at midnight. I used to send the teens on these erands as both ar right across the street from my house. I can actually see them out the window. Now I have to make the trips myself. Grrr.