Curfew Enforcement

Nick St. George, the 17-year-old graduate of Granada Hills High School, has made the case for enforcement of curfew by his own pen, “Youth Just Wanna Have Fun,” July 28.

Although he attempts to persuade all of us over 30 that the desire and pursuit by youth (under 30?) of fun outweighs our need to enforce the time teens need to be home, he fails to convince me that he is ready to be out after 10 p.m. unsupervised.

Nowhere does he even mention the words “responsibility” or “accountability” in regard to the liberty of the young. We read only of his plea that society not trample his freedom, something I offer he has not yet earned. In a well-crafted but unpersuasive statement, impressive diction (“anti-insouciance”) notwithstanding, Nick does not seem to realize that it is precisely because so many of his peers and their families have acted without responsibility, even criminally, that we have determined to enforce a law that puts limits on how late he and his peers may be out to seek the fun he craves. Here the law stands in loco parentis, and determines that people under the age of majority must not be out on their own. Quite a different need than the ancient law of the Middle Ages he cites. This is a privilege of adulthood that he has not yet attained.

Nick also shows me he needs the curfew by his statements, “It is necessary to disregard a restriction such as this curfew law” and “All such a law can do is arouse resentment of society’s repressive forces.” A responsible and mature person behaves in accordance with the law, be it an ass (Dickens’ words) or an asset, and seeks to change it in the acceptable legislative and adult manner, not by ignoring it and vilifying those whom we charge with the duty to uphold it.

DAVID SILVERSTEIN

Van Nuys

Silverstein is cantor, Sinai Temple, Westwood

* I’m 65 and I had to pedal back in time to when I was in my teens, remembering the corner my group claimed as ours. We used to meet before and after dinner, gossip, watch people (and girls) go by and, for the ones who could afford it, have a Coca-Cola at the nearby cafe. That was Italy, 1949.

I was almost sympathetic to St. George’s plea to let the young have some fun, experiencing “the sheer joy of being,” “out after dark, living life.”

I repeat, I was almost sympathetic, until I read on the same page, “Depravity Takes a New Turn.”

In it, a group of youth jumped a homeless man, beat him, stabbed him and finally killed him. Then, to celebrate their victory they gave each other “high fives.”

Sorry, Nick. Times have changed, and not for the better.

DANTE F. ROCHETTI

West Hills

* Seventeen-year-old St. George’s lamentation on social repression in the form of curfew is so much ‘60s anti-establishment, Age of Aquarius, flower-power claptrap it’s laughable. His article is self-incriminating, at best, as he identifies himself as one who “can be free and have fun without having to keep busy procuring the necessities of existence.” In fact his entire discourse emphasizes his right to have fun.

Quite frankly, the people in this city who do have to keep busy procuring the necessities of existence aren’t interested in yours or any other child’s ability to have fun. They are interested in protecting their means of existence from being broken into, stolen or destroyed by a roving band of unsocialized malcontents with nothing better to do after 10 p.m.

Which begs the question: Why don’t you and your fun-seeking ilk have anything better to do after 10 p.m.? You’ve got 15 hours of daylight to celebrate your youth, freedom and exuberance. After 10 p.m. it’s time to step aside and let the hard-working adults have their time. Go inside and find something constructive to do. You’re going to need the experience if and when you become a responsible adult.

DAVID A. SPENCER

North Hollywood