According to an ongoing debate on debatewise.com, students say,
Child Curfews
Yes because...
Youth crime is a major and growing problem, often involving both drugs and violence.
Youth crime is a major and growing problem, often involving both drugs and violence. Particularly worrying is the rise of youth gangs who can harm urban areas and create a social climate in which criminality becomes a norm. Imposing youth curfews can help to solve these problems, as they keep young people off the street, and therefore out of trouble, and prevent them from congregating in the hours of darkness. Curfews are easy to police compared to other forms of crime prevention, and are therefore effective.
No because...
Curfews are not an effective solution to the problem of youth crime; research in the USA suggests that there is no link between areas that achieved a reduction in juvenile crime and areas with youth curfews. Although some places did see a reduction in youth crime, this often had more to do with other strategies, such as zero-tolerance policing, or indeed with demographic and economic changes affecting the numbers and prospects of youth people. In any case, most juvenile crime appears to take place between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., after the end of school and before working parents return home, rather than in the hours covered by curfews.
Yes because...
There is no good reason for children to be out unaccompanied late at night.
There is no good reason for children to be out unaccompanied late at night, so a curfew is not really a restriction upon their liberty. They would be better off at home doing schoolwork and interacting with the rest of their families.
No because...
Children in their mid-teens have many legitimate reasons to be out at night without adults. Many will have part-time jobs, for example in fast-food restaurants or delivering newspapers. Others will wish to participate in activities such as church groups, youth clubs or school trips. Requiring adults always to take them to and from such activities is unreasonable and will ensure that many never take place in the first place, either because adults are unwilling, or are unable to do so. More sinisterly, some children are subject to abuse at home and actually feel safer out on the streets.
Yes because...
Minors don't have rights.
Minors don't have rights. The government has always placed restrictions on minors such as requiring them to go to school, prohibited drinking and prohibited minors from being in tanning salons.
No because...
No one has rights. The 1st amendment of the US constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…" NOT "people have the right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech…" so why can't the government create a law abridging a minor's right to free speech or impose a curfew on adults?
Yes because...
They will learn the importance of being on time to places
The teens need to be assisted to understand the importance of being on time to places and in the future to work also other events. It will be easier for them to go from a teen to a young adult when they reach that age. It will help them get through college and be able to study for exams without having a difficult time keeping a regular schedule. And when they succeed in their studies, they have a good way of living, so it's reducing the crime rate.
No because...
Bu they will not know why they are being kept in, they will not have the reasoning to be able to see why they were kept in. They will only know that they have to be home for a certain time. Once that restriction goes, they will make the most of it and get out. We need to teach them why they should stay in, not just rule with an iron fist in the hope they merely copy in future life.