Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email I agree with the suggestion. Sometimes coming back home late, I notice kids cycling in groups and I wonder what are they doing out of their homes at late night. I see kids hanging out near 7-11 shops, burger stall, along the roadside, near monsoon drains, at bus stops. Where are the parents or guardian? Are these street kids? Or lack attention from parents? Or rebellious? Or bored at home? (I remember reading about Mat Sikal in Malacca recently).
Well, even if you have a valid reason – like coming back from tuition class – its still better to have guardian to fetch you or accompany you.
Of course, this won’t reduce crime rates drastically, but I believe it will help in deterring increase in social ills and crimes. Crime happens all the time, yes, but having our kids safely indoors by certain time reduces their possibility of being involved in criminal activities or accidents. It goes without saying that you need someone at home to keep an eye. If not, the crime can happen at home! In other words, the parents or guardian need to be constantly monitoring their brood, which in our currently lifestyle and economic pressure, is difficult.
This reflects the kind of place we are living in – a dangerous place. Safety is a big concern due to organised crimes, gangsterism, foreigners, local folks aiming for a fast buck, drug addicts, snatch thieves, rapists, molesters, acid splashers, straying husbands (and wives who caused it, according to OWC – OK, I’m straying off-topic here) etc.
The curfew would be similar with the current practice of hauling up students loitering in cybercafe or shopping centers during school time.
Question is, do have enough enforcement capability? Most of the time the police busy manning roadblocks, or breaking up protests or helping out at by-elections. Rela? Not sure if can trust them fully with children and teenagers. Perhaps Jabatan Kebajikan should set up a new division for this purpose. Or mobilise Rukun Tetangga, mosque/temple/church committees, RAs to be “enforcers”.
Kalabakan MP Ghapur Salleh wants the federal government to impose a curfew on teenagers under 18 for their own safety.
He said that teenagers under 18 years should be banned from hanging out in public places after 10pm without parental guidance.
He said that it would help reduce crimes and social ills.
“I have already tabled the proposal in Parliament but I have not received a definitive answer yet,” he said.
Expressing his concerns over the current lifestyles of teenagers, he said the high numbers of those caught for crimes and social ills was worrying.
“Banning teenagers from loitering outside their homes after 10pm would be helpful.
“Our country has no monitoring system to prohibit teenagers from going out at night. Introducing a curfew system will help curb social ills.”
Educating parents
Ghapur cited Australia which had successfully introduced the curfew system banning teenagers, aged 13 to 16, from leaving their homes without being accompanied by their parents.
Teenagers found flouting the rule, introduced in the early 2000s, are hauled up by the police and taken to the station. They would only be released when their parents come to fetch them.
The Australian government has said the move was aimed at countering the increasing number of teenagers who were found “drinking, using drugs and sniffing glue”.
A similar order was also issued in Thailand in 2007. Bangkok’s metropolitan police reportedly issued a directive prohibiting children under 18 from leaving their homes after 10pm without justified reasons.
The ban was aimed at preventing youths from hanging out at night and committing crime or becoming crime victims.
Teenagers caught hanging out at night in Bangkok without valid reasons would be taken to the police stations where their statements would be recorded. Their parents would be called to pick them up.
Ghapur, however, felt that the Australian system was sufficient to educate parents and control the teenagers.
“I believe we need a system like the one in Australia… it will help educate parents to be more sensitive.
“Teenagers who are brought to the police station would only be released once their parents come,” he said, adding that parents must be alert to their children’s movement.
Frightening reality
In August last year, an online report quoted Bukit Aman CID chief Bakri Zinin as saying that in 2009, police recorded 6,048 juvenile criminal cases compared with 5,114 in 2007.
Staggering still was the fact that 208 rapes cases and six murders were committed by teenagers between 13 and 15 years old.
Teenagers, aged between 16 and 18, committed 616 rapes and 47 murders, according to the statistics, and these numbers are known to be just the tip of the iceberg.
Social workers note that many incidents of rape go unreported in Malaysia for fear of the perpetrators.
Many also believe that delinquencies begin at school in the form of truancy, smoking and vandalism.
source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/06/04/slap-curfew-on-teenagers-to-keep-them-safe/
