Summer months are here and school is out, leaving many a teen with time on their hands.
To some city and law enforcement officials, that poses a problem.
The City of Atlanta recently announced its intention to enforce a longstanding teen curfew ordinance, lest kids 16 and younger roam the streets in the wee hours. Under the ordinance, anyone younger than 17 can't be outside their homes without adult supervision from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from midnight to 6 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Many cities and counties across metro Atlanta have similar regulations.
Proponents say the laws reduce teen crime and protect teens from danger, while critics believe the rules do little more than give a false sense of security to nervous adults.
"There's pretty much no question that [the ordinances] aren't effective in either reducing crime or preventing harm to young people," said Mike Males, a senior researcher for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, who has researched the effectiveness of teen curfews in cities across the U.S.
"It's basically designed to make people feel better about using a city at night, and it's an artificial thing," he said. "It’s a psychological law -- not an effective policy."
Read entire article here.
By Katie Leslie , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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