For many teenagers, one of the perks of turning seventeen is not having to deal with being apprehended at night after hours. But for teens in Chicago, that law might not last long. In 2009, then Mayor Richard M. Daley made the curfew for teens 30 minutes earlier than normal; that kids ages 12-16 have to be inside by 10pm on weekdays and 11pm on weekends. In 2011, during Rahm Emanuel’s first term, he turned back the curfew hours for kids under 12 to crack down on safety.

Emanuel recently proposed another revision to the current curfew law; that it would extend to seventeen year olds too. He says that keeping kids inside during late night hours will promote safety and turn responsibility more towards parents. In one view, his words make sense, that keeping teens off the streets will create safety from the consistent violence that plagues Chicago.

Although most of that violence tends to happen at night, keeping underage kids inside isn’t what stops the shootings. Anything can happen at any point of the day, anywhere in the city. Emanuel should be taking charge to enact stronger gun control laws and promote education to both children and adults that resorting to violence is not the moral path.

While Emanuel wants to get tougher on curfew enforcement, 2014 records show that curfew citations by the Chicago Police Department have actually gone down. In 2011, his first half-year in term, curfew citations to minors after hours were at 21,500. But now, by September 2014, they have dropped to 8,855. Although the CPD have had a shortage in manpower, they hope to tighten curfew enforcement.

Curfews in other cities, like New York City and Los Angeles, pose differences. Buffalo’s city curfew, in upstate New York, is an hour later than it is in Chicago; 11pm on weekdays and 12am on weekends. In Los Angeles, the curfew is for all minors, or teens under eighteen, is 10pm on weekdays and 11pm on weekends, which is what Emanuel wants to switch to. Many cities in the U.S. vary in curfew times, but the curfew of another city shouldn’t influence Chicago because every city is different whether it depends on the safeness of the city, or population.

Even if this law is approved, the majority of seventeen year olds aren’t going to be looking forward to being inside by 10 or 11pm. A lot of seventeen year olds are seniors, have cars, and are looking to enjoy a sense of freedom. Events can be held too, during later hours, that many Chicago teens might attend; concerts, movies, school events, etc. A curfew for seventeen year olds will only make more kids break curfew.

Seventeen is the age where kids can be tried in court as adults, the age where students are getting closer and closer to college, and at this point they should be allowed that sliver of trust before adulthood. Including them in the curfew won’t create any viable solutions.