Should there be a National Curfew for those underage?

I agree with the decision of the third one. It`s more fair than the others. Plus that the people of their city knows better what to do, because that`s their habitat. They should be asked what to be changed and what to remain.
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Debt Negotiation

The curfew for Illinois is 10pm on weekdays and 11pm on weekends. if you're caught driving after curfew it's considered a criminal offense and you could face up to a year in jail. i wrote a blog about it.

it's just dumb. hardly anyone i know follows the law unless their parents make them, and those aren't the kind of people that need to be kept off the streets.

I voted for the second to last one because I believe that we do not need to spend extra costs on enforcing a curfew. I think that there are many other things that the country or the city could use this money on and don't believe that enforcing a curfew should have extra costs included.

Yes there sould be a time set where all minors should be "INTHE HOUSE". I mean look at all the kids that have been kidnapped, look at all the rapes and child molestations. People need to keep there Children in the house. Maybe then we could decrease the rate listed things.... I truly know that a Curfew wouldn't stop these things, but what is wrong with trying.. that is what is wrong with "America Today"... We Don't try. We look past small issues like this and then somebody child somes up missing and Dead. Now Who's to Blame... Put out a curfew where not only the child has to abide by but also the parent as far as having the child in the house at that certain time. That's just my opinion...... That's just Reality...

Kentrez Gardner..

Take a second to imagine if there really was a national curfew. I assume an I.D would have to be shown to prove a person is really old enough to be out at a later time? Now you have an increase in fake I.D.'s.
There would need to be more police on patrol watching for underage children breaking curfew. Then there's money needed for salaries and various whatnot. Where would this money come from?
And there is a funny thing about people - they tend to like to break rules. If I am not mistaken, when alcohol was prohibited the number of alcohol related death actually rose and led to more violence (like the mob...). In comparison, when you tell underage kids they aren't allowed out after a certain time, they're more likely to sneak out.
All too many have that "rules are made to be broken" mentality.
Who's to say those kids are doing anything wrong anyway? May I just point out that crimes can be commited at any time of the day?

It just seems like the more things that are restricted (underage drinking for instance) the more that people are going to want to do them. So if there's a national curfew I think a lot more teens are going to break it just because it's more thrilling. You know what I mean?

Curfews don't work. The people who are out late will always be out late. It is the same logic I learned from Lance about guns. Just because we ban guns and put a curfew will stop law abiding people only, so both are superficial in there usefullness and show how flawed they are very quickly.

Okay, then. I have never really needed a curfew, but hey! Some kids do. So, for those kids, I picked that the responsibility should lie with the state. I didn't pick the national government because that responsibility is not supposed to lie with them. The guys that came up with the national government purposed it to govern the states, which, in turn, govern the people. In all honesty, the cities and townships should look to the state for guidance then enforce what the state says. But, the real question is, "Should we interpret the state government as we should interpret the federal government?" I don't think that makes sense. Does that make sense?

Who would've thought I would be here now?

Kids shouldn't be working late. If they have school the next morning then why the hell are they out late??? Duh. America is extremely screwed up. The "No child left behind" crap is stupid. It's not that they can't learn the stuff, it's that their parents are too lax and too scared of attitudes to take after-school activities and video games away from them. Parents allow their children to have so many distractions and then want to fuss about the school system not teaching their kids anything. Bull..

I voted no to a national curfew, but I opted for a state/city wide curfew. I think curfews are okay if they are not used as a reason to sweep all kids off the street. When I was younger I was stopped several times by police officers just for walking down the street and minding my own business. The excuse was that I always fit the description of someone who just did something. Usually I was walking to or from after school activities, political campaigning, karate classes or work. Sometimes, I was just walking to walk. I do see the need for some kind of curfew to help keep kids in check, but I am unsure about doing something like that without creating a whole new bureaucratic office (Bureau of Curfews?) We shouldn't overtax the police department with it, but who else would do it? There really is no happy medium to this problem.

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Respectfully,
Adam

I don't think curfews will do any good either. It'll make more crimes go up because there will be people going off on their curfews. My vote went to the last option as well. Then again, it might depends by who you mean "underage" and at what time is the curfew going to be...

No...actually I don't agree on any curfew. It sounds so anti-freedom. It's opposite of what America is supposed to stand for!

And Man, I miss this place! After settling down at my new college, I'm ready to be progressive again. Hello everyone!

There shouldnt be any law enforcing curfews. We are in a free country. Why cant there be underage people out late at night? It should be up to the parents or guardians to give their underage children a curfew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that it is not only not a national issue, but it also won't work and doesn't allow for the occasional exceptions that need to be made for the rule every now and then.

So... I wish I could select more than one option.

Enough said.
><>Brian

Isn't there already an implied curfew for new drivers that are 16 who cannot be on the road past 12 am?

Melissa

I voted for the last option but I would also like to add the fact that it is nearly impossible for a curfew to be enforced without taking away from more important law enforcement. Police would waste their time trying to keep underage people off the streets and not be able to keep watch for more serious law violations. It is also not generally enforced even when there is one.

I believe it will work if the law are tough and do not back down. To ensure it works, I think that if they are caught in the streets after the curfew then there should be a severe punishment for everyone no matter their excuse! =D

I chose the last one because in our State, Hawaii, people would just find ways to break curfew. And even if it's for under age crime, it wouldn't do much. Plus, no teenager wants to stay home at night. Especially on the island. At night is when everyone really goes out. And if they put a law on curfew, people here would rebel and still not heed to it. And if anything, they would cause more trouble to show that they can still do things even if there's a law prohibiting it.

But I'm just speaking for my state. I'm not sure about other states considering I'm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

I don't like the answers you had for this poll. The fact is; the parents are the ones who should set curfews for their kids. NOT the government, state or local. The police will already check out anyone who looks like a minor out after a certain time anyway. There's some things that just shouldn't be messed with. Unless they are having a particularly violent and criminal time committed by kids. That includes gangs. THEN it would make sense. The fed doesn't need to have anything to do with it.

I live in an area with moderate (to middle high) crime rates; there are lots of gangs. Imposing a curfew would not prevent individuals committing crimes. If they break the law already, what is a curfew going to do? Plus, to enforce a curfew in an area with larger population, it would be extremely difficult to actually check who is underage or not (especially if they don't carry ids and such).

In short, I voted for the last one. There are better ways to lower violence than by enforcing a curfew which punishes both the good and bad minors.

While I voted for the last option, the second to last also has a point.

A nationwide curfew is just ridiculous in general though.
I live in a small town where a curfew isn't necessary (extremely low crime rate even among teens). In fact, a curfew may hinder if enacted. I can only think of all the times I have come home from a school-sanctioned event at one in the morning or from a job after midnight.

"It'll cut down on the youth crime rate, and be consistent across the nation."

This is a generality. This cannot be true across the nation.

Though a curfew may deter a few teens from criminal activity, the majority of repeat offenders (let's face it) view themselves too "hardcore" to actually obey something as minuscule as a curfew.
And for those who are just innocently hanging with friends or driving home from a basketbal game that went late in another city just have to pay for the curfew.

As you can tell, I'm against curfews in general.

Maybe kids who work late can have some kind of special card to carry.

I'm going back to Africa

Snakes are Cunning

I picked the 1st one because growing up in La there is a lot of kids who's parents do not care about their curfew. If the law helps kids get their life together by preventing them from getting into trouble and keeping kids off the street durring certain hours that drunk, crazier people are out i am for it. I have actually gotten a curfew ticket and did not like it at the time, but now i can understand why they have it.

What about kids who have to be out late, because that's when they work? the Police will stop them, waste time while the student has to explain it, and prove they are in fact out due to work, and the police will have wasted time, and the student will have been needlessly embarrassed.

Illegal immigration is just one small topic in a whole range of issues in this nation. I think a curfew would just limit us more and depict how much control the government really has over the individual now adays.

+mspin

I voted no because why waste money chasing kids when their parents should be doing it and we should be chasing illegals out of our country! Why should they get a free college education, free health care, free medical care, and free social security checks from the USA just because they can jump a fence! We need to spend the money at the borders!