English
November 12, 2012
‘Should a curfew be put in place to decrease teenage crime and violence in Belize?’

There are many words or phrases that teens dread hearing from their parents, one of these words is “curfew”. Many teens see the adolescent years as a time to break away from their family and parents, and experience more freedom in certain aspects of their lives. Having a curfew seems unfair and unreasonable, but what many teens fail to realize is that curfews are actually beneficial to their overall well- being. According to a survey conducted by California’s legislative analyst’s office, “teenagers make up 26% of all property crime arrest and 14% of violent crime arrest.” It isn’t a far stretch to assume that the statistics are similar in other regions including our own Belize. With statistics like these, the government needs to enforce curfew for teenagers in order to reduce the amount of crimes committed by minors by keeping them in door and out of trouble during late hours.
Curfews have many advantages that teenagers might not realize. Firstly, when following curfew, teens tend to stay out of trouble more because criminal activities or high-risk behavior is more likely to occur later in the evening when parental supervision is not present. Secondly, curfews help teens to become used to setting a schedule which they routinely follow, and become able to develop important time management skills, and being able to manage time effectively is useful in a variety of situation including school, work and personal relationships. Thirdly, curfew helps teens to develop and maintain a consistent bed time routine, which leads to subsequent focus and wakefulness in school which may result in the teen doing better in school. Lastly, curfew helps teenagers to become disciplined and responsible.
In opposition, Curfew alone won’t stop crime. A report based on