This is going to hurt but somebody had to say it: THE DC CURFEW LAW

In case you were wondering, The Advoc8te supports a curfew law 100%! I am constantly amazed at how many parents citywide (not just in “Southeast”) do not seem to know nor care that their underage children are out on the street at one or two o'clock in the morning. I have seen toddlers on the block at 11pm, eight-year olds on the block at midnight, twelve and thirteen year olds on the corner at 3am and all with no adult supervision - even on school nights! No good is going to come of underage children on the street without responsible adult supervision after 10pm.

In my neighborhood we have had three murders in under a year (including two that occurred during curfew hours), it boggles my mind and honestly makes me call into question the common sense of parents/guardians that would allow their underage children to roam the streets alone late at night. I love my neighborhood but I am not going to be out on the corner of 4th and Orange Streets (directly across the street from our esteemed councilmember) at 2am "hanging out" and I would not expect a bunch of underage children to be doing so either, yet there they are.





For parents who oppose the curfew law I say this. Perhaps YOUR child won't be committing a crime at 2am but who says someone else won't commit a crime AGAINST your child? This is where parental responsibility comes into play. If you think it is okay for your child to hang out on the corner all hours of the night then fine - you stand out there with them! That way you can make sure they are safe and make sure they are not causing harm or inconvenience to someone else. That is how you can get around the curfew law - be with your child. There is nothing productive or safe happening at 2am on a street corner. I have yet to see a spelling bee, a prayer circle,  or a read-a-thon take place at the corner of MLK and Malcolm X Avenue at 2am. At best, it presents an opportunity to disturb the quality of life for others in the community who are most likely trying to sleep, at worst it is a felony or misdemeanor waiting to happen.

The curfew law isn't perfect but it is better than nothing. To make the current curfew law much more effective The Advoc8te proposes the following:

INCREASED POLICE RESOURCES
Dedicate more police resources besides the one or two vans currently dedicating to picking up curfew violators citywide. Residents often tell of calling the police and waiting hours due to a lack of available officers to pick up curfew violators (same for truants). Often times by the time the police show up the violators have moved on (or already committed a crime).

GOVERNMENT ACTION
Curfew violators who are picked up by the police are taking to a "holding center" where their parents/guardians are contacted to let them know that their child broke the curfew law and that the police need the parent(s) to come retrieve them. Unfortunately, what is happening is that parents/guardians just leave the children at the holding center so it is the responsibility of the police to take the children home again in the morning. In my opinion, this lack of response of the part of a responsible parent/guardian is an indication that something may be wrong at home and government agencies should be involved at this point. The law needs to have some teeth and an proactive procedure in place to find out why juveniles are not being supervised accordingly, either in the home or in DYRS custody.

PARENTAL RESPONSIBLITY
Parents need to be held responsible. If a minor keeps violating the curfew then there should be consequences for parents/guardians. This is going to sound harsh but if parents were fined or jailed because of the actions of their children then more parents would get off the couch and get involved in their children’s’ lives before they become the next perpetrator - or victim. If a parent has lost control then they need to ask for help and be willing to accept it - all of it. And another thing, not to be harsh but if a family is receiving government aid to support their household and their dependents they should be held doubly accountable to follow the District's laws. You can't expect to receive public funds but not follow the law.  There needs to be some correlation between receiving public assistance and parents providing adequate supervision (and care) to their children. If they can't or won't then an alternate solution needs to be found and it may not be staying in that home. To be clear, out of control children are not the sole byproducts of children from poor families – far from it, but we need to use all the resources available to put a little more accountability where it is sorely needed – in the home. Whether that home is subsidized by the public funds or by a trust fund matters not, although I would make the argument that we need to pay more attention to disadvantaged youth because it is so much easier for them to fall through the cracks of the sytem. We need accountability from everyone for everyone.

If Little Jimmy, the neighborhood terror who’s parents don’t know or care where he is at 2am broke into my car and stole my radio then I am calling the police on Little Jimmy and then I am going to sue Jimmy’s parents for the cost of my radio. If Little Jimmy’s parents are constantly put on notice about their child’s behavior yet refuse or unable to take control of the situation then I expect there to be consequences either legal or financial. We have some people out here raising children who are far more concerned about the child support check (or subsidy) than raising the child. That is a big problem.

Forewarning: The Advoc8te understands that what I am about to say is not PC and may solicit the wrath of social service/safety net advocates but I don't care. We have too many people using tax dollars for their own benefit but who won't/can't follow the rules or the law. We have drug dealing occuring out of Sectoin 8 houses which to me is nothing more than goverment sponsored drug trafficking. Cher said it best, "you take their money you take their $%#%" and that includes following the rules and regulations and most importantly the law. There needs to be consequences.

This concept of withholding compensation or benfits for bad behavior isn’t reserved only for people on public assistance. Working people have it too; it’s called a paycheck – “pay that keeps you in check.” I may want to go to work 3 hours late and wear my pajamas and curse like a sailor and I can do that but then my boss can also fire me. It’s called choices and everyone has them to make. Don’t cry about it when you have made yours –deal with it. Everyone is accountable to someone and we need to stop this practice (or fear) of telling people they can act up and not expect there to be consequences. Bad choices = bad results and sometimes when you make your bed you have to sleep in it and that bed may be hard as a rock, perhaps next time you will make better choices.

My job is not promised forever (nor should it be).
Public assistance is not promised forever (nor should it be).

There are rules and regulations for having the privilege to experience both and in order to benefit from them you should have to follow the rules and/or law.

Okay…I am going off on a tangent right now. Back to the issue at hand – curfews for juveniles.

I remember, and I am sure many readers can remember growing up and your parents or grandparents telling you to make sure you are in the house before the street lights come on. To break that rule was tantamont to committing a federal offense. You could find yourself grounded - or with a sore behind. The only “human rights” our parents were thinking about were their "right" to keep our hard heads safe.

While we are on the subject of human rights what happened to OUR rights? We are losing too many children (and adults) to these streets because some people flat out do not want to be responsible parents and the law is not doing enough to keep law-abiding taxpayers and their children safe. Who is looking out for MY human rights? My right to enjoy my home in peace and quiet, my right to not become the victim of an underage shooter who should have been in the house or in DYRS custody at 11pm? What about that?

We may not have needed a curfew law back in the day because we had more parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and neighbors involved. Back then, there were more people watching out and making sure you were behaving yourself and made sure your behind was in the house at a reasonable hour.

Unfortunately, we now have babies having babies. Too many single parent households were the sole parent is either unavailable (for whatever reason) or over extended. Grandma is trying to raise too many kids or has passed on and aunts and uncles have moved away. The family structure has broken down and with it the familial gatekeepers and the internal guidelines that kept everyone safe or as safe as possible.

Parents should be the gatekeepers and rule makers for their children but unfortunately that is not the case in every household and if this latest rash of youth violence and MURDER has shown us anything is that there is a serious problem with family values and the ease in which young people have access to guns and are willing to use them. We are in crisis mode here people and we need to find some new solutions less we lose the battle and more lives!

I don't know how you can prove a negative, in this case that lives have been saved by the curfew laws, but I think we can all point to entirely too many late night/early morning murders that have either been committed by a juvenile or where the victim was a juvenile. I count success by how many nights I can go to sleep without the sounds of gunfire, by every day that I don’t have to mourn for another life lost – that is all the proof I need.

For those that criticize juvenile curfew laws as infringing on human rights and as being ineffective I always want to ask,  "have you seen a victim of gun violence?" Seen their blood poor out of their body? Felt the bullet fragments under their skin? Seen them take their very last breath?

I have, and let me tell you there is nothing theoretical nor constitutional about murder. It is final and it is horrific and we should do everything we can to prevent it from happening, especailly to or by children who should have been in the house.

If even one life can be saved then get your underage, unsupervised, butt in the house before curfew or I am calling the cops! Its for your own good!


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