I mean obviously I’m going to give that a big ole thumbs down, it’s a no from me. Curfews have nothing to do with keeping kids out of trouble. If your kid is gonna do something stupid, they’ll do something stupid. End of discussion. If they want to do hood rat crap with their friends, they will. It could be 3 a.m. or 3 p.m.; if they want to, they will. Whether it's chilling, just talking and hanging out or going hard at some sketchy house party; the time of day doesn’t matter. Let’s be real, the only reason kids have curfews is because parents like to go to bed early and “they have to wait up for you.”
In my opinion, if you have a good, trusting relationship with your kids and know where they’re at and who they’re with and they keep in contact with you; then what’s the point? I get that parents want to know that their kids are safe but the tighter they hold on the crazier the kid will go. It’s the ones with the crazy strict parents that turn out to be deceiving little liars. And for my upperclassmen out there, getting ready to be on your very own, probably hundreds of miles away from home; that’s just setting them up to go nuts. All of high school they’ve had to be home at 11 or 12 or even as early as 10 p.m. Well news flash there is no curfew in college. Another news flash for you, they don’t know anybody. They don’t know anyone’s intentions or demeanor. You thought it was dangerous for your baby to be at their best friend’s house (parents’ home) any later than 12. Now they’re in a strange town, with strange people, going to strange places and staying out till 4 in the morning because they haven’t felt freedom in 18 years. That’s how people get hurt.
Now I’m not saying that every single teenager is out at a party getting turnt with their friends, some of the best nights of my high school days were sitting around a bon fire with my closest friends talking and laughing, playing a good game of cards against humanity. Its just fun to be around people, especially as you get towards the end of high school. You’ve spent your whole life with these people and in a quick minute you may never see them again. All we want to do is cherish the time we have left with our friends. We want to make memories we can laugh about at reunions. All we want to do is stay in the norm, change is so hard and soon everything will. With everyone having jobs its so hard to match schedules, time we get to spend together dwindles down and soon we will all be our separate ways. All we want to do is be together for just a little while longer, and that’s really hard to do when you have to be home by 10.
All I’m saying is loosen the grip a bit, meet in the middle. Having a curfew won’t keep anyone out of trouble. If anything they’ll get a “stick it to the man” attitude and end up getting in trouble or even hurt. What keeps kids out of trouble is having strong relationships with their parents and the morals they have; people, things or sports that keep them grounded. Curfews don’t keep teens out of trouble, teens do. It’s the decisions they make and the people they choose to surround themselves with.
