Effectiveness of Curfews
Parents and guardians have sought out different ways to discourage bad behaviour in children. The different methods used serve as both a form of punishment and deterrent. In addition, parents and guardians impose restrictions to discourage bad behaviour. A good example is the imposition of curfews by parents and guardians as a way to keep teens out of trouble.
The use of curfews heavily depends on the teenager’s willingness to respect the parent or guardian’s wishes regarding the curfew. Since there is no physical means of ensuring that the teenager adheres to the curfew, its success in keeping the teenager out of trouble will depend on the relationship that exists between the teenager and the authority figure. To some extent, curfews do help to keep teenagers out of trouble because the limit the time in which teenagers spend without supervision. Teenagers will therefore spend their time in school and short periods with friends before going home in time for curfew.
Curfews also help to keep teenagers out of trouble because they help build on family relationships that mentor positive growth. Curfews help families to stay together as a unit and share bonding experiences such as sharing meals, playing games and other activities. This gives the parent enough time to spend with their children and mentor them on how to lead positive lives. The family experiences teach teenagers to care about other people and this is further extended to the community. The teenagers therefore develop the need to do good rather than engage in bad behaviour. The curfews also give the parents and guardians enough time to get to know their children and discourage any bad behaviour that they may have picked up.
An argument can be made that curfews do little to discourage bad behaviour because the teenagers can engage in the same activities when they are allowed to be outside. Since bad behaviour is not limited to specific time periods, teenagers can engage in immoral activities during the day as much as during the night. Advancement in technology also means that the teenagers can communicate and share ideas through different platforms such as social media, video chats and other means of communication. Since the curfew does not restrict access to the web, teenagers can engage with one another and negatively influence each other even during curfews. While this may be the case, curfews act as a symbol of both respect and control by the parent or guardian. Teenagers choose to respect the parent’s curfew because they either agree with its purpose or respect their parents enough to do as told. Respecting the parents wishes therefore means that the teenagers can also discern right from wrong and stay out of trouble out of respect for the parent.
Curfews are an ideal tool for discouraging bad behaviour amongst teenagers especially because their success hinges on the trust established between the teenager and the parent. The lack of physical restrain means that the parent views the teenager as a responsible individual who can properly manage their time and get home in reasonable hours. The parent trusts the teenager and this in turn makes them more responsible and thus discourages bad behaviour. Although there are occurrences where teenagers break the curfew or end up sneaking out of the house, such occurrences are rare and the parent has more control over the teenager’s upbringing, thus discouraging bad behaviour.
