WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?

                   

The City of Chicago new night time curfew hour for minors becomes effective on September 18^th. The new ordinance moves the time children have to be home to one hour  earlier.  The curfew only applies to children 16 years and younger. Chicago has no daytime curfew law.

Weekday curfew for minors 12 through 16 years of age is 10:00 p.m.;

Weekday curfew for minors 12 and younger is 8:30 p.m.;

Weekend curfew for minors 12 through 16 years of age is 11:00 p.m.;

Weekend curfew for minors 12 years and younger is 9:00 p.m.

Curfew violators are subject to a fine of up to $500 or community service. Three offenses in a twelve-month period shall be subject to up to $1,500 in addition to community service.

When the ordinance was passed, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, “I advocated for curfew laws while serving President Clinton because I believe the safest place for a child is at home,” said Mayor Emanuel. “I commend the aldermen for getting this ordinance passed. This is another tool that will help fight crime and help children from becoming victims of crime.”

If Mayor Emanuel wants to get really tough, he should follow the example of Los Angeles Municipal County.  First, LAMC defines a minor as anyone less than 18 years of age who is not emancipated.  Second, L.A. also has a daytime curfew. 

45.04 (a) LAMC “Daytime Curfew” 

“It is unlawful for any minor under the age of 18, who is subject to compulsory education or to compulsory continuation education, alone or in concert with others, to be present in or upon the public streets, highways, roads, alleys, parks, playgrounds, or other public grounds, public places, public buildings, places or amusement and eating places, vacant lots or any place open to the public during the hours of the day when the school, which the minor would normally attend, is in session, on days when that school is in session.”  (Editor’s note--There is a list of reasonable exceptions)

Emanuel’s  press release about the curfew change  also contained the sentence, “Aggregate data from across the country also supports the efficacy of curfews: in the five years following enactment, youth arrests drop by an average of 10%.”

That statement is meaningless to juvenile crime in Chicago because the city ALREADY has a curfew!  All that changed was to make it an hour earlier from 11:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.  Why didn’t the Mayor cite any statistics having to do with CHANGING the hour of curfew?  Probably because there aren’t any!   If he really wanted to make a change, he would have raised the age of minors covered by the curfew from 16 to 18.

It still comes down to the basic bottom line.  It is the parents’ responsibility to control their children, not the government’s.  But if the government does decide to set the rules, have a stronger penalty for violation—like requiring the parents to attend a parenting class.  Maybe if they learned how to control their children, government could spend time on more important issues like jobs and the economy.