Voluntary curfew

[Oneeyedvic]

Proposals for a roll-out of curfews on children in Cornwall are being described as a breach of human rights.

The scheme is being trialled in part of Redruth to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Julia Goldsworthy, MP for Falmouth and Camborne, said it should be rolled out in other problem areas if it proved successful.

The voluntary curfew in Redruth, known as Operation Goodnight, means parents will be asked to have under 10s at home by 2000 BST and 16-year-olds off the streets by 2100 BST.

It will operate in the Close Hill area of the town from 25 July until 7 September.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/74 96324.stm

Good idea or not?

[juliacornwal]

I saw this on the news this morning and frankly, if the young people are bullying and frightening other people on the estate then I'm all for it. It's all very well to say it's 'breaching their human rights', they don't seem to give a damn about anyone else's human rights!

Probably I sound old and boring saying this, but when I was a child it mattered very much to parents if their child had a bad reputation; it was shaming and they were quick to do something about it. Nowadays parents just don't seem to give a damn. Out of sight out of mind - just take your antisocial behaviour and inflict it on someone else!

[naomi24]

I don't have much to add to what Julia's already said. She's absolutely right. it's a damning indictment on parents, though, when the police have to resort to such measures It will be interesting to see how many parents co-operate.

[Oneeyedvic]

Were you at home by 9pm every evening when you were 16?

Would you also go on holiday to this village if you had teenage kids?

[ludwig]

How can anything that's voluntary be a breach of human rights? They're basically just asking parents to please not let their kids hang around in gangs at night causing trouble.
As Naomi says, it's a shame the police should have to resort to doing that, but there you go.

[sleepy1]

that will upset some parents ..shame they will have to get out the pub to make sure there kids are in doors

[youngmafbog]

Totally pointless if its voluntary. The parents that will abide by it probably already take care of what their kids do. Those that dont undoubtedly own the majority of kids that cause the trouble. They will still be there so once again the innocent majority are penalized by the measures bought in to control the unruly minority who wont are anyway. Much like the useless gun law.

9:00 for 16, thats a tad harsh. 10:30 would be more acceptable maybe.

[naomi24]

Seems Julia isn't around at the moment to give her answer, so I'll go first.

Yes, I was home all evening - unless I was going somewhere in particular - and I was usually too busy with homework to go far. I wouldn't have been allowed to hang around the streets anyway - and I wouldn't have wanted to.

Yes, I would go on holiday to this village if I had teenage kids. They wouldn't be out in the evening unless they were going somewhere in particular, so why wouldn't I go on holiday there?

[ludwig]

I wouldn't go on holiday there. It's full of menacing gangs of kids hanging around the streets.

[naomi24]

No, you're right! Why didn't I think of that? :o)

[Oneeyedvic]

lol

[jake-the-peg]

A blanket curfew on a group of people would be a clear breach of human rights were it not voluntary.

Imagine you were told you couldn't drive your car after dark because of a spate of drink driving in the area - you'd be spitting feathers!

People always think that "OOman rights" are a waste of time when they're not the victim - funny that!

Seems that it's happening because locals find them "Intimidating"

What next tatoos? long hair? - are we banning things because a group of old women feel scared?


But apparently all that's actually going to happen is that the police will phone the parents and say that they don't think under 10s should be out after 8 or under 15's out after 9.

It seems that the Cornwall blue rinse brigade think the police are there specifically for them.

And all this in a county where the police are raving about how Cornwall is one of the safest places to live in England.

[ludwig]

Jake, can you not find it within yourself to have an ounce of sympathy for people whose lives are made a misery by this sort of thing, instead of just sneeringly dismissing them as 'the blue rinse brigade'.
Neither you nor I know the full facts about the kind of behaviour that has prompted this idea.

[jake-the-peg]

Life made a misery?

They live in one of the safest counties in England.

They want to penalise young people many of whom have never done anything

No actually I can't

Not only that but I think that this will badly backfire on the police in later years. These kids will grow up seeing the police as opponents.

[jake-the-peg]

And I've read more than that article at the top of the page which is how I know the way it''s planned to work.

How much reseach have you done?

[ludwig]

'No actually I can't' - that doesn't surprise me, but I'm glad I made you at least try and think about it from the other point of view for a second there.

[naomi24]

Jake, we�re talking about children, not adults, nor car drivers. And who says the �blue rinse� brigade are the only ones who are afraid? Because it doesn�t suit your politically correct views to protect innocent citizens from whoever may be threatening them, you resort to denigrating the elderly. Yesterday you were calling for burglars to be kept out of prison; today you�re saying that this curfew may result in kids seeing the police as opponents. Oh, right! So we won�t bother to teach them to respect other people, we�ll just pussyfoot around them and let them do as they please, shall we, regardless of the damage and misery they cause - and groups of unruly kids can cause misery. The fact is that some kids are intimidating - they do damage property - and their parents should take responsibility for them. I doubt the residents would be complaining if there was nothing to complain about. Even with your permanent refusal to open your eyes to reality, you must at least see that. People like you bleat on about the lack of role models kids have, the bad upbringing they endure, and give a plethora of reasons for them turning to drugs and crime, and yet the moment someone does something to try to prevent them from making mistakes, you�re banging on about freedom and human rights. You can�t have it all ways, Jake.

Maybe the reason that Cornwall is one of safest places to live is because the Police there do try to clamp down on crime and anti-social behaviour. If we lived the way it seems you�d like us to live, the lunatics really would be in control of the asylum and we�d all be living in absolute mayhem.

[Oneeyedvic]

naomi - and groups of unruly kids can cause misery.

Agreed.

This is not about stopping unruly kids - its about stopping all kids.

Most people if they saw a group of 10 men in a town centre on a Friday night, would feel intimidated. Should men be stopped from meeting in groups?


Because it doesn�t suit your politically correct views to protect innocent citizens from whoever may be threatening them
Incidentally, Jake is trying to protect innocent people - namely the kids who have been given a bad reputation because some children cause trouble. Their rights are being threatened by association, not by their actions.

[jake-the-peg]

Love your logic

Cornwall is the safest because they do stuff like this - talk about wanting it both ways.

I have no problem with prosecuting vandals and people comitting crimes but that's not what's happening here.

They're picking on all kids and tarring them all with the same brush.

That's why I used the driving example - you wouldn't like it if someone did that to you!

I work with kids in this age group on a weekly basis so I have a very good view on reality thank you very much.

If this came in throughout the country I'd have the Police outside the village hall asking why all the kids coming home from my Karate dojo were out so late.


Sorry to crack your illusion of me as a beard wearing peacenik - I guess life outside your head isn't the same as it is inside it

[naomi24]

naomi - and groups of unruly kids can cause misery.

Agreed.

This is not about stopping unruly kids - its about stopping all kids.

Most people if they saw a group of 10 men in a town centre on a Friday night, would feel intimidated. Should men be stopped from meeting in groups?


Because it doesn�t suit your politically correct views to protect innocent citizens from whoever may be threatening them
Incidentally, Jake is trying to protect innocent people - namely the kids who have been given a bad reputation because some children cause trouble. Their rights are being threatened by association, not by their actions.

[naomi24]

Oops, sorry, Vic, I copied your post into a word document to reply to it, and copied the wrong piece back. Try again!

You give an example of groups of adults, and again I say we aren�t talking about adults. Adults do what they want to do, but children are children, and they need - and deserve - guidance. The Police have no option but to make it a blanket curfew, unless they take to arresting all the unruly kids, and I don�t expect that would go down too well. Apart from that, what�s wrong with kids being indoors at a reasonable hour? A curfew doesn�t mean they have to be in their own homes (although, in my opinion the younger ones should be in their own homes long before 8pm). It doesn�t mean they�re under house arrest and can�t go to their friends� homes, does it? It just means they�re off the streets and they aren�t tormenting other people.

Jake may well be trying to protect innocent people in this instance, but again, he�s ignoring the rest of the innocent people who should also be protected, and who are entitled to live in peace. If these kids� rights are being threatened by association, then their reputations are also being threatened by association, and the best thing their parents can do is to take proper responsibility for them, and, to the best of their ability, stop them associating with those who will tarnish their reputations.