Curfews Help Put Children in Their Place: Classrooms

Cities across the country are adopting a relatively new tactic to keep children from ditching school: the daytime curfew. Implemented effectively, a curfew is a good way to remind students that when school is in session, their place is in the classroom.

The La Habra City Council has given preliminary approval to an ordinance barring anyone under 18 who is supposed to be in school from loitering in streets, parks or other public areas from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Police could detain youths, and courts could levy fines of up to $250. The council is expected to give final approval soon, and other cities in Orange County are considered likely to follow suit.

The success of such a curfew will depend in part on whether it is applied fairly. Some representatives of minority groups expressed concern that daytime curfews could be used by police to harass minority members whom they suspect of being gang members. That is a valid concern in light of past instances of police photographing youngsters of Asian descent who had not committed crimes.

To their credit, the more than two dozen school district superintendents in the county who worked with police chiefs and the county’s sheriff, district attorney and chief probation officer to draw up a model ordinance recognized that concern. The superintendents said they were convinced a curfew law would be applied without discrimination.

California’s state education code has provisions against truancy, with possible fines for students and parents. But officials said the provisions are cumbersome to implement and seldom enforced. An ordinance makes it easier for police and schools to send a message to truants, who are considered more likely than other students to become lawbreakers.

Society has a stake in seeing that children stay in school and get an education. Most of Orange County’s students under age 18--nearly half a million--have no problem with that. But for those tempted to skip class in favor of skateboarding, shopping or shoplifting, the curfew could provide a valuable incentive to choose the classroom.