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Slim Smith

My dad was not an educated man, at least as far as formal education goes. But neither was he a dummy.

By the time I got my drivers license, my parents were in their late 50s and were not in a mood to stay up late into the night on weekends to make sure I came home at a decent hour.

From wisdom gleaned from raising my five older siblings, my dad settled on a different kind of curfew for me.

I was free to stay out as late as I wanted. The curfew was enforced on the other end. Up by 8 a.m., a curfew applied without exception

Even today, I marvel at the brilliance of that strategy.

For starters, my parents could get a good nights rest. Second, it instilled in me a sense of discipline that every child needs to develop as they approach adulthood. Mom and Dad wont be around forever, after all.

So, on those occasions when I was tempted to stay out until 2 or 3 in the morning, I was forced to make a cost/benefit analysis: a few more hours hanging with my pals versus a few fewer hours of sleep. More often than not, I was home around midnight.

Picking peas on a hot Saturday morning on four hours sleep is pure misery. And staying awake during the Sunday sermon was difficult even for a well-rested teen.

So, in the end, my dads unorthodox concept of curfews achieved what it was intended to do.

I was reminded of this after Tuesdays Columbus City Council meeting, when Ward 2 councilman Joseph Mickens made a passionate plea for the police department to increase enforcement of a curfew for kids under the age of 18, an ordinance that has been on the books since the 1990s but rarely enforced. According to the CPD logs, there was only one citation for violating the curfew so far this year.

According to the ordinance, on weekdays, it is illegal for minors to remain in or upon any public street, highway, park, sidewalk or other public space between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and between 12:01 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday or Saturday nights.

On a first offense, violators will be taken to the Juvenile Detention Center, and they will be released to their parents or guardian without charges. If it happens again, the parents will be fined $50 or will have to complete five hours of community service. A third offense results in a $100 fine or 10 hours of community service. Subsequent offenses face a $500 fine or 50 hours of community service.

Minors with a parent or guardian are exempt. Minors may be out after curfew in a window 30 minutes before to 30 minutes after work, if they are employed, while going directly between home and work. The exemption also applies within 30 minutes of the end of a school- or church-sponsored event.

In making his argument, Mickens quoted former city councilman Bill Gavin, who said Nothing good ever happens after midnight. To that, I will simply respond that Gavin never met Betty Ann Tompkins

I do not mean to sound flippant. The recent shooting death of a 16-year-old in the early morning hours Sunday and the general increase in violent crime is unnerving. We are all searching for answers, and Mickens request for enforcing the curfew is a good-faith response.

I just dont like the idea, for several reasons.

First, it is not the governments job to tell parents how to raise their children. A parent may have their own ideas about what constitutes a decent hour. Those decisions are best made in the home.

Second, I have serious concerns about how the curfew would be enforced. I suspect it would be applied most vigorously among Black children in Black neighborhoods.

Third, I fear the curfew could be used as probable cause to violate Fourth Amendment rights that guard against unreasonable search and seizure.

Fourth, the idea that a kid whose only offense is to be Black in a poor neighborhood after a certain hour can be detained and hauled off to the juvenile detention center seems ridiculously harsh.

Finally, and most importantly, I believe the resources required to fairly and effectively enforce this curfew could be put to a far better use. Hiring more police officers and increasing patrols seems a far better response to the crime issue.

A publicity campaign to encourage parents to establish their own curfews would be a far better approach.

I endorse the out of bed by 8 a.m. model.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [emailprotected]

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [emailprotected]

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Slimantics: Curfew is a well-intentioned, but misguided, response to crime - The Dispatch - The Commercial Dispatch