The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-11-13
Curfew Laws Lead
To Confusion

Editor of Herald:
Much has been said lately
about the proposed Curfew law
that is about to become effec-
tive in Farmville, but to my
knowledge nothing has been
said. in public. against it. Yet,
I know there are many people
that are opposed to it. Before I
say anything. l want to make
clear that I'm not against law
enforcement. Good laws are a
necessity and should be en-
forced, but they can be over
done.
The Curfew Law is said, mot
to be Punishment" Punishment
or not. is it necessary or is it
just another law that teenagers
will have to break and then end
in punishment they otherwise
wouldn't have. In previous arti-
cles. it was stated that it would
cut down on Drag Racing" and
Juvenile Crimes" This is hard
to understand because cars will
run just as fast before 1900 as
they will after and stores can
be broken into before the cur
few time. "The ordinance i'm
powers off c ers to question
youths, not to make arrests or
prefer charges" To my knoWl-
edge, the officers had this right
anyway. Besides that, the ones
guilty of breaking laws aren't
going to stop because of another
law like a curfeW. Why punish
all of them for what a few are
guilty Of. It's like taking every
ones license when one person
has an accident. or closing all
the banks when one is robbed
Some adults are guilty of speed
ing, reckless driving, and rob-
berries. Yet there is no talk of
putting a curfeW on them. Why
try to center all the trouble
around teenagers.
I'll have to agree that 1000
O'Clock is late enough for 1S
year olds and under to be out.
in most cases. l also think that
in Farmville there is very little
walking the streets, lettering and
SO on. by teenagers after mid
night. I think parents in this
area are capable of seeing to
that. On the other hand, if they
have their parents consent to
stay out later, | think that's
their privilege. / see no reason
why teenagers have to be har-
raised with any more laws than
there already are. To me the
problem is, not to make more
laws, but to make the younger
generation understand and APP
preciate the laws we already
have. I can't see how the cur
few law will do anything but
make the teenagers' resent to-
days laws, not respect them.
There are many other things
to consider, concerning such a
law too. Provisions have been
made for sports events, dances
and other occasions, but Farm
vile isn't the only place that
has such happenings. NJ n Y
teens have dates out of town,
in the surrounding communities
or lust like to go somewhere
else for their recreation. If
they re not back in Farmville
by midnight it's just going to
cause problems, and everyone
knows that teenagers aren't al
ways going to be on time. In
the summer months when the
Drive-In doesn't let out many
times until after 1900. Isn't this
going to cause more resentment
for the law? Exceptions can be
made, but if there are going to
that many exceptions. That in
itself is enough to make the law
useless.
To close, I'd like to appeal to
the parents to talk this over with
their sons and daughters. If they
have good, solid reasons why
this law should not become eff
fective, then something should
be done about it. Otherwise
there's nothing to do but obey
it, not complain after it's too
late.
Gene Eike