The Los Angeles City Curfew Laws state that it is unlawful for anyone under the age of 18 to be present in public places unsupervised from 10 p.m. until sunrise of the following morning. It wrongfully restricts the rights of under-age people in Los Angeles and belittles their maturity.

There are many exceptions to the law. You are allowed to be out if you are with an adult, running an errand for a parent or guardian, attending or returning from a meeting or a place of public entertainment such as a movie or sporting event, involved in an emergency, in a vehicle involved in interstate travel, and finally, when the minor is on a sidewalk directly in front his/her residence.

Too many exceptions make the law pointless. Authorities cannot prove that a minor is out past the curfew hour for a lawful reason. Minors can easily state that they are running an errand for their parents, when in fact they are on their way to a party or another friend’s house to hang out..

The law is absurd, and it is just another way for the government to make decisions for minors. The purpose of the law is to keep youth out of trouble and protect society from violence and other occurrences in which minors are involved, but by enforcing the law, the government is preventing minors from becoming independent and responsible citizens.

In other words, by enforcing a curfew for under-age individuals, the government is condescending adolescents’ decision making and taking away valuable life experiences.

Besides, not all adolescents are delinquents and causing problems on the streets. We’ve gained a reputation of being indifferent to the consequences of the law, but what about all of the adults that cause problems in our society? Why aren’t adults forced to stay out of the streets after 10 p.m.? Simply because it would be a violation of their freedom; but our freedom is never taken into account. No one looks at us as individual people, rather, they categorize us as a reflection of a few people. They categorize us as too young. They categorize us as a group that does not have the intelligence or presence to vote for our future, but attention must be paid. We need more attention paid to our basic freedoms.

The government is taking away our freedom, but no one seems to care because we’re considered under age. We’re considered too young to matter.