Business

Rasela Tautua

Module 5: Assignment 1

HUM 440: Common Sense and Everyday Life

November 5th, 2013

Final Argument Paper: Should people under 18 be subjected to legal curfews and restricted driving privileges?

Many people believe that having curfew laws and restricting driving privileges for minors is a must. Parents nowadays highly support having curfews and driving limits for their children to ensure their safety. But is having curfew laws reasonable? Will restricting driving privileges for individuals under 18 decrease the number of crimes and the number of traffic accidents? Shouldn’t curfew laws be applied to all age groups to cut down on all the crimes rather than just the fraction of the crime that is committed by youth? Also, would these curfew laws and driving limits make our society better or worse?

Curfew laws are enacted to ensure and keep children off the street at night. Curfew laws restrict the rights of minors to be outdoors or in public places during certain hours of the day. Such laws aim to create a safer community and to protect kids from becoming victims of crimes. Because of the parents’ lack of control over their children, curfew laws were enacted and supported by many individuals all over the United States.

Driving privileges on the other hand, is something a teen or minor looks forward to during their youth. Minors/teenagers consider their getting their driver’s license as their ticket to independence or freedom. For a teenager, having access to a car would mean an opportunity to go places without depending on their parents to take them there. With a driver’s license, a teenager is able to drive to school functions, extracurricular activities, or even to work.

“The United States has used curfews during wartimes and emergencies since before the Civil War, but juvenile curfews did not become widespread until the late 19th century. Because juvenile crime was blamed on immigrant children, and parent’s lack of control over their...