Curfew Hour Needs Enforcement
The Issue: The curfew law needs stronger enforcement. We still see kids running around the villages after 8:00 P.M.
The teeming energy in each of our young people is understood. It involves grammar- and grade-school kids who need to let-off excess energy in their system.
These kids are basically good people. Each of them tries to read the blurry crystal ball of real life in and outside the household. Each also struggles to learn how to be good citizens despite their tender age.
It’s good to allow them to take out their energies in organized and supervised youth activities, i.e., basketball practice, among others. At least, they are in safe hands while undergoing basketball, baseball or football clinics.
These activities need to be scheduled for early evening sessions. It should give kids the opportunity to head home before eight to hit the showers, dinner and homework.
In the villages, however, we still see unsupervised kids riding freely on their bicycles. Some have heedlessly kicked their pedals on main roads, dangerously. These are free-spirited young kids who have little inkling of the dangers of riding wildly amidst heavy traffic.
Parents ought to take a greater role in the supervision of their children who ride bicycles. It’s even better if they join them for a healthy ride. In that way, they can supervise which side of the road must they pedal their bikes in safety.
Basketball courts in Koblerville and other villages still have kids dribbling balls well past midnight. Either that or young people ride their bikes around the village without some form of lighting system so that they can see what’s ahead of them or give approaching traffic a warning of their presence on the road. It’s dangerous all the way around.
Patrol officers ought to take a closer look at their watch. Any young kid found roaming the streets must be picked up and brought home with the view to encouraging parents to exercise stronger discipline. This ought to gradually give parents a wake-up call about their responsibilities in terms of the whereabouts of their kids. Let’s do it for the safety of our young people and community as well.
