Op-Ed: Curfews on Young People

As of June, 2023, several restrictions and curfews have been placed on young people in Philadelphia. These include banning minors from public businesses without the accompaniment of an adult after 10 p.m., and, even more extremely, banning kids from the Fashion District after 2 p.m., shortly before schools dismiss students. Curfews, which are a growing phenomenon in cities across the country, have been presented as a way to curb crimes committed towards businesses. In reality, these curfews do not mitigate the conditions that cause crime. Curfews simply act as a way of limiting where young people can exist. In Philadelphia, a curfew on people from ages 14-18 has been enacted after 10:00pm, and on people 13 and under after 9:30pm in commercial areas. Similar curfews have been taking effect in other cities as well including Chicago, Austin, LA County, and Portland. 

Young People Facing Social Isolation and Mental Health Issues

To understand the root of these increased curfews, we must first understand the increase in mental health and behavioral issues young people have been facing in recent years. However, increased criminalization will not mitigate this crisis.

To create an actual solution to this crisis means understanding where it originated. One of these origins is the schooling system in which young people spend much of their lives. Young people often feel stress from their formal education. With high-stakes testing and inadequate funding for mental health support, it is easy to understand why. To add insult to injury, public education is not allotted proper funding. In April of this year, the Philadelphia School District superintendent, Tony Watlington, stated that it would take 5 billion dollars to bring all buildings in the district up to health code while. Nor are classes given the funding they need to provide strong educational resources, or mental health support, with an average of 1 counselor to 392 students in Philly alone, leaving many students untethered. Issues of underfunding and understaffing also negatively impact mental health professionals and teachers (who often also have to mitigate behavioral or mental health crises along with teaching).

Outside of education, students can clearly see the deteriorating conditions of the world into which they were born. In the U.S., students face a daily threat of gun violence both in school and in their neighborhoods. As of December, 2023, there have been at least 80 school shootings in the US. Many students also face violence outside of school with gun violence or domestic abuse. Gun violence in Philadelphia reached a record high in 2021, with over 550 gun-related homicides in the year. Additionally, outside of their day-to-day lives, students today grow up in a world where the existential threats of climate change and international tensions are televised on a 24-hour news cycle. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, mental health issues among young people have skyrocketed. After this time of social isolation, 80% of schools nationwide have reported increased behavioral issues among their students. Needless to say, there are reasons behind the spike in violence, theft and other crimes which recent curfews hope to mitigate. 

We Need Actual Solutions, Not Curfews

Recent curfews have been painted as a method of mitigating the issues by limiting the commercial places in which young people can exist. However, curfews are not a permanent solution to the crises causing this rise in behavioral issues. Rather than providing solutions to the issues we are facing, these curfews increase the policing and criminalization that young people face. Limiting the spaces where kids are allowed to exist will not minimize the crisis that kids are experiencing; instead, it would just direct these behavioral issues away from commercial areas.

There are feasible solutions to this spike in behavioral issues among young people. Any solution would have to be derived from the underlying reasons for the social crisis that young people are facing. The issues that can be addressed at this point in time are providing better funding for schools and developing community and recreation centers. Some cities have started the process of creating and funding rec centers, including Philadelphia, where recently $60 million has been invested by elected representatives and non-profits in addition to the $15 million in the upcoming 2024 budget for improving current recreational centers. 

This is absolutely a step in the right direction; however, this must be seen in the broader context of Philadelphia’s budget. In Philadelphia’s 2024 budget of $6.2 billion, $9 million total will be going towards mental health crisis response lines whereas the police budget will be increasing by $56 million for a total of $856 million spent on policing the city along with the city’s youth. This increased policing of people does not mitigate the underlying issues that lead to heightened crime rates in the first place and does not decrease crime as shown by the steady increase in homicides in Philadelphia since 2014 despite increased police spending. Resources such as structured recreation activities (which can decrease youth arrests by 27%)  or horticultural maintenance (which can reduce gun violence by 29%) are funded significantly less in comparison.

Our cities should allocate more funds towards programs such as recreational centers and education that statistically lower crime. Keeping people ages 14-18 out of the Fashion District will not decrease the social alienation and mental health crises that are leading to greater behavioral issues.

Sources:

Alex Matthews, “School Shootings in the US: Fast Facts,” CNN, October 4, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/us/school-shootings-fast-facts-dg/index.html .

Charles C. Branas et al., “Citywide Cluster Randomized Trial to Restore Blighted Vacant Land and Its Effects on Violence, Crime, and Fear,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, no. 12 (February 26, 2018): 2946–51, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718503115. 

Daniel Guy, “Curfew Reform in Philadelphia and Other Cities | Citizens Police Oversight Commission,” City of Philadelphia, June 2, 2023, https://www.phila.gov/2023-06-02-curfew-reform-in-philadelphia-and-other-cities/. 

David Kurtz, “Structured Recreation Programming Can Help Reduce Juvenile Crime | NRPA Update | Parks and Recreation Magazine | NRPA,” www.nrpa.org, September 1, 2015, https://www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2015/september/structured-recreation-programming-can-help-reduce-juvenile-crime/#:~:text=Studies%20on%20active%2C%20structured%20recreation. 

Katie Meyer, “With Murders at an All-Time High, Some Philly Leaders Point to a ‘Peace Movement,’” WHYY, December 31, 2021, https://whyy.org/articles/philly-ends-2021-with-over-550-people-murdered-but-community-leaders-say-a-peace-movement-is-building/. 

National Center for Education Statistics, “More than 80 Percent of U.S. Public Schools Report Pandemic Has Negatively Impacted Student Behavior and Socio-Emotional Development - July 6, 2022,” nces.ed.gov (National Center for Education Statistics, July 6, 2022), https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/07_06_2022.asp. 

Rebecca Rhynhart, “Data Release: Police Budget and Citywide Homicides,” Office of the Controller, June 16, 2020, https://controller.phila.gov/philadelphia-audits/data-release-police-budget-and-homicides/. 

Sammy Caiola, “More Police Funding, Help for Rec Centers Proposed in New Philadelphia Public Safety Budget,” WHYY, June 19, 2023, https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-city-council-budget-public-safety-what-to-know/#:~:text=The%20current%20%246.2%20billion%20budget. 

Saunak Mandal, “Curfew Laws by State,” NYRA, n.d., https://www.youthrights.org/issues/curfew/curfew-laws/#info.

Zara Abrams, “Kids’ Mental Health Is in Crisis. Here’s What Psychologists Are Doing to Help,” American Psychological Association, January 1, 2023, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/01/trends-improving-youth-mental-health.