by Mary O’Leary
As teenagers, we are all used to racing down Ward Parkway at 11:30 on Friday and Saturday nights to meet our parent’s curfews. If we do not make it home on time, we are most likely punished or given a stern warning.
However, most of us are not used to the city forcing us to be home at a certain time and punishing our parents if we are not.
The new city curfew of 10 p.m. for everyone 15 and under and 11 p.m. for 17 and 18 years olds is punishable by up to a $500 fine, which is charged to our parents. Our parents should not be held responsible for the bad decisions their children decide to make.
Teenagers who decide to break the law should be held accountable for their decision not by a fine, but by a designated time amount of community service.
However, the city is saying that it’s the parent’s responsibility. The parents are the ones held accountable for knowing where their child is and making sure they are following the curfews. This would only be a reasonable demand for parents if every single family had a GPS tracking device on their teenage kids.
This isn’t realistic. It is extremely easy for teens to lie about their weekend plans. Teenagers can easily tell their parents they are going to a friend’s house when they are actually going to the Plaza. Still, this liability seems to fall on the parents. Charging the parents for their child’s mistake is not an effective form of punishment.
However, making the teenager pay the fine isn’t the best alternative either. Doing so would not accomplish the goal of teaching them a lesson, and it is not a good way to help them learn from their mistakes.
Community service would prove to be an effective way of punishing teens because they cannot rely on their parents for help. Teens would have time to think about what they did wrong and make up for their mistake by bettering the community.
Volunteering also serves as an effective way of keeping kids busy when they have nothing better to do with their time. It could prevent teens from going to entertainment districts or any part of the city, with nothing else to do but cause problems.
