Some 'children' may have jobs (babysitting, fast food...) that officially keep them out past curfew. These situations should be exempt from curfew. - However, there are MANY who kids are out late just creating mischief (drinking, partying, knocking over biffys, littering and loitering) who should not be allowed to just 'wander' the streets of Lakeville. If the parents are not going to care about where these kids are at the late hour than the police should be able to handle the situation.

There are laws against children drinking, knocking over biffys, littering, etc. Those are good laws. However, it should not be against the law to be out - whatever the time of day. If the kids are young enought that child endangerment comes into play, then there also are already laws regarding that.

Police should focus on kids that actually violate the law. Curfews just give police an excuse to hassle kids that aren't violating any laws. I don't want the police hassling good kids just because they're out and about past a certain time.

I'm quite frankly amazed that this is a controversy. When I was a kid, there WERE cufews, and yes, they were strictly enforced (within reason). I worked as a kid, from grade school on up so often I was out after hours, but I had a reason, a good reason for being out. If a cop stopped me, I explained that I was on my way home from work, and he was okay with that (I even got a few rides home). But it's a different world out there today. There are dangers at night never dreamed of when I was a kid. I think a parent who doen't know where their kids are at 10PM are very poor parents indeed.

I didn't realize our city had a curfew and told my 17 yr old son to be home by 1 am (that was my curfew at his age). I got a phone call from the county deputy at 12:30 that my son was out after curfew. He was skateboarding at the skate park with friends. They were not drinking or using drugs or doing anything else wrong. The police also searched his car and all they found was a shoe box full of notes from his ex-girlfriend. He got a curfew ticket. Parents should be allowed to parent and kids shouldn't be ticketed unless they are breaking the law.

I think it should be up to the parents to set curfews. My kids were never out late when they were younger. But at about 16, I gave them more freedom. They would always let me know where they were and we had a locator on their phones if we ever had any concerns.

Curfew is curfew. Get your kids home where they belong at night. 1 AM seriously? As my parents told me "no good can become of that". If the kids want to be with their friends late at night or early morning just have them spend the night at your home. They shouldn't be on the road. Start caring and parenting.

Chris, you can resent the statement that people who let their kids be out at night don't care about their children and aren't parenting until the cows (or the kids) come home, but it doesn't make it any less true. What legitimate activity can a kid do at 1AM that he/she couldn't do at 10PM? You can't be that naive.

This is the law in Hennepin county:
Under 12, be home by 9 PM on weekdays, 10 PM on weekends.
12 - 14, 10 PM weekdays, 11PM weekends.
15 -17, It's 11 PM on weekdays, Midnight weekends.

I'm not making this up folks. It's not up to individual preference, it's the law.

I agree with Chris and Tina - I also had a curfew by 1am growing up (set by my parents - not the county/police etc...). I think 16 is the appropriate age to allow this. Would I want my kids out past 1am - depends - but as long as they are not getting into trouble what is it hurting? Some of you just need to go to bed and stop being so paranoid! Kids are generally night-owls, that is why they are out. Having the police doing cattle round-ups is absurd and a total waste of my tax payer dollars. The police should be focused on more serious issues that the police deal with. No wonder the trust level and the perception (arrogance) of police is minimal when they are writing tickets for non-criminal activity - "for being out" ... I don't care if it's a law or not. The police has the discretion to ticket or not to ticket and they need to use common sense!

Think about the year it was when we was out that late?

It's less dangerous to be out late at night now than it was in the 70's or 50's. The biggest danger for high school kids is car accidents. Our cars and roads are much safer now. There are far fewer drunks on the road now than back then. It doesn't seem like there are any more crimes against kids (abductions, beatings, rapes, etc.) that are out late at night now than in past decades. Most of that sort of thing happens in the homes of people they know. Even the "less desirable" parts of cities seem safer now than in the 70's. Does the Twin Cities even have a "do not enter" neighborhood anymore?

The law is to protect the kids. The bad stuff will typically happen after dark. That's when most rapes, assaults, drunks are on the road, drug dealers etc. If you seriously think there are less rapes etc maybe you should check out the Plym movie theatre parking lot. 1 rape is 1 to many. The law is also stated so that as the kids get older they get the priviledge to stay out later. See the trend? BTW - just in case you didn't get the how to be a parent book before you became one it is your responsibility to be awake when your kids get home. If you're not you are missing out on some of the best conversations about their friends and what they did or saw on that particular night. I also agree that there are special occasions when the kids should be allowed to stay out later. Typically a cop isn't giving a teen a citation if they aren't doing something wrong. It's not harassment if they are stopped and asked where they are going, where they've been and where are they headed. It's letting kids know that they are being watched and cared about. Bars close at 1 so why would a parent want their kids out on the roads with the drunks? Although it is true that some kids can handle the responsibility of being out til 1 AM when they are 16 that is not the majority of children. Like any law it is put into place to control and help the majority.

Fabuladico - sorry to hear that!! But glad you got out and home again. Many children and adults are not that fortunate.

If one rape is too many, kids should never be let out of the house or allowed to have visitors. The world has many dangers especially when kids aren't prepared for adulthood. Besides, that should be my right as a parent to determine when my child needs to be home. It's ironic (at least to me) how many parents insist it's their right to whack (assault?) their child with a paddle without government interference. And yet, these same "parents rights" people won't let me determine what time my child needs to be home.

I don't consider it hassling kids for police to ask what they're doing, where they've been, and where they're going - provided there's no requirement to answer. I think it's hassling them when the officer gives them a citation for simply walking down the sidewalk.

Well Fabuladico, we all have opinions which no one can take away from one another.

I'm not going to tell you how to raise your children and please don't tell me how to raise mine ... mine will turn out just fine, I guarantee you just as I did.

As for the subject of this article...should kids have a curfew? If it were out for a vote - I'd VOTE NO!

If a kid vandalizes something, it's the parents responsibility to pay for the damages. Any kid who does vandalism can be arrested. That isn't the issue. The issue is whether kids who are not causing any problems can be cited simply for being out. This ISN'T about parents who don't care. The issue is whether parents who do care should be allowed to let their children be out later than some arbitrary curfew set by the government.

OK Chris so you've dismissed crime, behavior, and parental responsibility, you've now succeeded in framing the argument to this: "the issue is whether parents who do care should be allowed to let their children be out later than some arbitrary curfew set by the government."

But it's not arbitrary; the times have been pretty well thought out and crafted for specific ages. It's not "set by the government" any more than any other regulation is by elected officials charged with policing our community. And it definitely is about crime and the proven reality (for 50 years?) that kids get into mischievous behaviors when left on their own in the middle of the night outside. Car keying, tire slashing, mailbox vandalism, broken windows, alcohol consumption-- geez you know the list as well as I do.

Your answer is simply: "well we have laws for that." And one of them is the curfew law, which is a painless way to get ahead of the curve in a preventative sense.

As far as my home was concerned, I never had a curfew growing up. I never got grounded either. Why? Two reasons - First, my parent knew where I was or how to get a hold of me pretty much at all times. Second, she knew I wasn't stupid enough to get picked up for breaking legal curfew. Even if I wasn't home, she knew I was INSIDE, wherever I was.

So, with my background, what have I learned from reading these comments?

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

In answer to the first poll question there is a state curfew..Minnesota leaves it up to the communities. I think Minnesota needs to set uniform state curfew laws, not leave it up to the community that you reside in because they vary from city to city. For instance Shakopee Curfew (from the city's website):
To combat juvenile violence and crime, the Shakopee City Council passed a uniform juvenile curfew ordinance. Youth age 17 and under should not be out between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. There is an exception to the curfew for students who are lawfully attending, going to or returning from school, church or community sponsored athletic, musical or social activities or events, or place of employment. Shakopee police officers enforce the curfew ordinance seven days a week.

This past week at 3 AM my daughter's car was set on fire, the police think it was set by juveniles. Just having a law on the books doesn't help if the violators are not caught. And the small curfew ticket fine ($50 for the first offense) that Shakopee has doesn't deter more curfew violations....the parent/guardians need to be fined (at a higher fee) for their children consistently violating curfew.