A Curfew for City Kids Under 18

I apologize for the delay in my response and the brevity with which I write, but I find myself pressed for time. Be assured that I will more fully expound on my arguments in the next round. Again, my opponent makes good points in favor of a curfew, but I still disagree with it. (My apologies if my format seems a little unsightly. I wasted a lot of time trying to make it look nice last time, but it ended up ruined anyway, so I'm not trying as hard this time.) Protection from Danger Of course there might be situations in which a parent might not give a child proper instruction. However, if the child is an ex-con or someone else who wouldn't even bother to tell their child to stay off the streets at night, that child is already going to have lots of problems when they grow up by not having common knowledge that most people do. Additionally, many teenagers are in their "rebellious stage", and will care for neither their parents nor the curfew. A law as minor as a curfew will not seem important to many teens, as it has historically been a rule enacted by parents. It is likely that the law will not be heeded. Also, like I said before, statistically young adults suffer a little more crime than those younger. It makes more sense, in my opinion, to teach rather than to force. If the children do not understand the rationality behind the curfew, they are likely to either break the law or spend a lot of time out past the curfew once they are of age. That will result in undesirable results, as 18 is not a magical age which makes one much better suited for being outside past a certain time. It is my belief that children should be informed of the risks of going outside at night, and if they choose to anyway then they should suffer the logical consequences, and if they survive they are unlikely to try it again. Protecting Others If middle school kids are guilty of killing people, then why would any child listen to a curfew? If the age of killing has decreased so far, I doubt that even a newborn would pay attention to a law as minor as a curfew. Those who would probably heed the law are probably those who wouldn't have done anything harmful anyway, and who probably were smart enough to stay in at that time regardless. Although my opponent certainly acknowledged that a criminal is not likely to go by the laws, another point of mine was not acknowledged. Specifically, more effort should be going into preventing people from killing/using drugs/illegally consuming alcohol than some curfew law. I think that it is more important to catch them while they're murdering someone than when they're out breaking curfew. I'm not sure what kind of punishments my opponent would propose for violating a curfew, but I doubt any of them would have the desired effect. No Reason for It I am sure that anyone reading this has noticed a glaring issue with the situation put forth by my opponent. Namely, anyone can lie about their intention if there is no evidence directly to the contrary. I have no doubt that a murdering, drug-using, alcohol-quaffing rapist is unlikely to have any moral qualms about lying, and it would be all too easy to make a claim that one has a legitimate reason. Overall, I think that it would not be easy to develop a system for determining who actually belongs outside at a time and who doesn't. It is the opinion of my opponent that "If a teen or a child is not at their home by 12:00, it is not acceptable.". I do not agree, and do not see why my opponent holds this bizarre opinion. Perhaps a child might not be responsible enough, but I have known people in the past who were more responsible as teenagers than some people are as adults. I have also known people in the past who, as teenagers, worked jobs at night while still studying at school, as their families had need of the extra money. By those experiences, I feel that I have shown a valid reason for not agreeing with that opinion. All in all, I think that such a proposed curfew would be a waste of time/resources to create. If some kid really wants to be out roaming the city at 12:00 and their parents think that it's all right, they'll probably manage to do it no matter how many useless obstacles are thrown in their path. Kids have been sneaking out of their homes at night for hundreds of years, and it's not likely to change just because there's a curfew against it. For these reasons, I don't think the proposed curfew would have any effect.