Have you ever wondered why there are curfews put in place? The Law in Illinois  states that anyone under the age of 17 has to follow the Illinois Child Curfew Act. The act requires that a minor may not remain in a public place or area during curfew hours. The hours are from 11 pm to 6 am on weekdays, and 12:01 am to 6 am on weekends. Not all young people appreciate this. “I don’t think it’s right to put a curfew on anybody. Like damn, I can’t be outside? There’d have to be a good reason,” argued, Noel Rahel ’21.

As a teenager, I don’t care about these rules, because I am always home before 9 pm, no matter what. However, others might oppose them. High schoolers are going to be the ones most affected by this, because they are the only ones old enough to roam the streets and still be under the restraints of the curfew. Tony Alvarez ’20, says, “they should really not be categorized based on age.” 

The only reason curfew might be helpful, is to small businesses who can’t keep the riff raff away. High schoolers are inevitably going to cause a little trouble. It is in our nature as teenagers to cause disruption and trouble. Once society  put rules in place that restrict the freedom of teenagers, those constraints will only make the young want to rebel against them. Unlike Kamil Mroz ’20, who said, “I mean, I don’t really care.” All of this really does depend on whether or not it affects you.