Should night time curfew be imposed on young people?

While there are many persons who believe that night curfew should be imposed on the young people, there are many who believe that imposing such a curfew is the violation of the rights of these persons. However the points that are given in favor of imposing curfew include:-

1. Crime among the youth has become a very major problem. Generally, the issues of drug abuse and violence are also included in it. These gangs of youths create havoc in the cities and criminal behavior becomes very common. Therefore, it is advisable to impose curfew on the young people to deal with these issues. If such a curfew has been imposed, the young people will not be able to come on the streets after dark and as a result, they will be able to stay away from trouble. It is also easy for the police to impose nighttime curfew instead of taking other measures aimed at preventing youth crime. Therefore, it can be recommended that night curfew should be imposed on the young people, keeping in view the rising crime in the cities.

2. By imposing tight curfew for the children and young people, the vulnerable children can also be provided protection. Despite the fact that a large number of patents do not allow their children to go out to their homes in the night, still many children can be seen on the streets during late hours. This means that all the parents are not fulfilling their responsibility in this regard. The result of such a situation is that when the children are present on the streets during the night, they become victims of crime and accidents. In the same way, the chances are also very high that these children may fall in bad company. Therefore, it is very important to ensure the safety of these children. If night curfew is imposed on the children, it will become obligatory for the parents to make sure that the children stay at home during the night.

3. The children have no reason to stay on the streets during the night. No activities take place for the children during the night. Therefore, the rights of the children will not be curtailed in any way if a night curfew is imposed. On the other hand, if the children are made to stay at home during the night, it will ensure their safety and at the same time, they will also spend more time with other members of their families. In the same way, in such a case, the children will also spend more time on their studies.

4. Imposing the night curfew also gives a strict message that a particular community will not tolerate lawlessness in the society. Zero tolerance of crime means that even the less serious crimes like window breaking or graffiti-spraying are also dealt with strictly by the police.It ensures that the number of serious crime also comes down effectively and the overall law and order situation also improves in the community. In this way, imposing night curfew on the young people may also help in this policy of zero tolerance against crime. At the same time, it will also ensure a reduction in the overall rate of crime in the cities.

5. By imposing night curfew on the young people, it is expected that there will be a change in the mindset of the young people who consider that challenging the law is attractive and similarly becoming a member of a gang is also an attraction for these people. However if nighttime curfew is imposed on the young people, the appeal of these activities will be reduced significantly because the children will not be allowed to go on the streets during the night. Similarly, the gangs will not be able to get new members. On the other hand, when night curfew is imposed, the young people will spend more time with their families who may also encourage them to join the positive activities like sports. In this way, imposing night curfew can be a very significant step in keeping away the young people from crime.

6. There are several other steps that are taken by the community to reduce crime among the youths however the effectiveness of these steps will be increased significantly if night curfew is also imposed along with these steps. The reason is that generally it has been seen that there is a culture of lawlessness in a particular area and as a result it is very difficult to pinpoint the youth who are taking part in crime and to make efforts for their rehabilitation. However, if night curfew is imposed, the police will be sure that all the law-abiding young people are not present on the streets and therefore, they can effectively deal with the rest of the young persons who are present on the streets during the night. In this way, night curfew can be used along with other steps through which this situation can be controlled effectively and the rate of crime can be significantly reduced in a particular community.

7. So far as the question of the rights of the minors is concerned, already a number of restrictions have been imposed on the rights of the minors that have been introduced with a view to ensure their welfare. For example, it is already compulsory for the minors to go to school. Similarly, they are not allowed to drink and smoke. In this way, any restriction on the rights of the minors that have enacted with a view to ensure their welfare is permissible.

Points against night curfew for the young people

1. However there are a lot of people who believe that imposing night curfew does not help in reducing youth crime. It has been suggested by several studies that there is no association present between a reduction in the rate of juvenile crime and curfew for the young people. Although, in some communities, a reduction has been seen in youth crime, this was more a result of the other methods adopted by these communities will be with youth crime and also as a result of the economic and demographic changes that took place in these communities. Moreover, it has also been suggested that most of the youth crime takes place between 3 PM and 8 PM when schools close and before the parents return from their work instead of the late hours of night when the curfew will be imposed on the young people. Therefore, it does not make sense to impose curfew at night for the young people and children.

2. The young people also have certain rights and liberties. For example it is the right of these persons to have freedom of movement and also a freedom of assembly. However, if night curfew is imposed for these persons, these rights will be directly affected because they will break the law even if they are only present on the street during the curfew hours. The law provides that a person is considered as innocent until the person has been convicted but in this case, this basic notion of law will be reversed. Moreover, the curfew will be imposed on the grounds of age as the persons below a particular age will not be allowed to come out of their homes during the night. However, in this scenario it has been completely ignored that a large number of crimes are committed by the adults. Moreover, the imposition of night curfew also undermines the right of the parents to raise their children whichever way they want to. Only due to the fact that certain parents have decided to raise their children in a different way, does not mean that the other people can be allowed to interfere in this significant right of the parents related with their children.

3. There are many instances where the young people may have a legitimate need to be present on the streets during the night. For example, a young person may be working part-time after the school. Similarly, a lot of teenagers also take part in social and cultural activities that take place during the night. By imposing such a curfew, the rights of these persons will be affected. In the same way, it will also be impractical to expect that the parents will accompany their children at all times during the night because in such a case, many parents may simply refuse their children to take part in these activities because they don’t have time to go with their children. Another thing that needs to be noted in this regard is that the children may also be abused at home. Therefore it is not a viable method for protecting the children to restrict them from coming out on the streets after dark.

4. The night curfew for the young people can also be abused, resulting in civil rights issues. For example, it has been revealed by some studies that the number of black children that were arrested by the police for the violation of curfew was much more as compared to white children. In the same way, night curfew is generally imposed in poor areas of the city. In this way, imposing such a curfew can also widen the chasm that exists between different classes of society. Equally important is the fact that the night curfew for children and young people can also deteriorate the image of the police in the eyes of the young people.

5. The imposition of night curfew for children and young people can have serious repercussions. In fact, such a curfew can increase the rate of youth crime as a large number of young people will suddenly become criminals merely for the reason that they have decided to venture out of their homes after dark. The result is that as compared to all other crimes, the number of youths who will be charged for curfew offenses will be much more. In this way, the children who have not participated in any criminal activity will also get a criminal record. These children may start suffering from guilt.In the other case they may become bolder by their newly acquired criminal record and may decide to try their hand in other crimes.

6. There are several other methods available to the communities to effectively deal with the issue of youth crime. These methods have proved to be quite effective in dealing with this issue. Some of these methods may include breaking up the gangs and perhaps electronic tagging. The benefit of these methods is that instead of labeling the entire youth of the area as criminals, only the particular troublemakers are dealt with. In the same way, instead of restricting the young people from coming out on the streets during night, they can also be guided to join social and cultural activities during the night.