Many points well taken in this article. Those who are eligible to vote should realize that there is a fine line between a working democracy and a tyranny of an apathetic and uninformed majority. In the latter case, we get stuck with leaders who exploit the indifference of the voters to pursue their personal agendas and personal enrichment.

Already MCPD is strained. This task of harrassing teens after 11/12 I am against. What about 12am screenings of hallooween movies? transformers? twilight? harry potter?
Mr Parsons who does one reach you? I emailed richard@patch.com and received a reply that it is not the Richard of the Silver Spring Patch.

PS: It sucks that the meeting is in Rockville. Rockville isnt a central location. I hope the youth will turn out. MCPS needs to allow comments via webcamera. It is 2011 afterall. At least phone calls in would be nice.

lilkunta - This isn't an MSPS issue, it is a County Council issue and the meeting will be in the council chambers in Rockville. If you think that they should have held local town hall meetings first, contact your local council member. You raise a good point about midnight movies, especially in the summer; my kids were at both Pirates and HP7.2 this summer. They're good kids who hang out with good kids but they enjoy the excitement of attending the first showing. Only the youngest would be affected by this if it goes through but she'll hate it if she can't join her sibs at the next big premiere.

Jerry - Scheduling meetings for 1:30pm on a work day during the summer guarantees a low turnout. Many voting adults will be out of the County either at work or on vacation. Some voters are apathetic and some have been deliberately excluded from this process. People who can't attend should contact the council members by e-mail or phone.

As a parent of three teenagers, I am totally against this curfew. I will give my children curfews, I do not need the county council to decide this for me.

I also agree that a 1:30 weekday meeting is a hardship for the majority of people.

Teens aren't responsible for car break-ins. Most crimes committed by teenagers happens in the after-school hours. This curfew isn't needed and shouldn't be considered under expedited procedures by any means. And folks need to consider--the law wouldn't apply in places like Rockville or Takoma Park that have their own elected governments and police forces. This is Sliver Spring's problem that is being used to punish all kids.

The headline should probably say what the proposed curfew teaches...because so far what it's "taught" is that elected officials can spring something so important to kids and parents in the middle of the summer, with little public discussion. And there's been no specific information on how to testify or be heard--that might be helpful.

Here's the bill.

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/bill/2011/Packets/20110712_7-1.pdf

Here's the facts on curfews:
http://www.youthrights.org/curfewfaq.php

Bill, I am the mother of three, including a set of twins who are 17. My son has been harassed (and worse and yes, I have filed a complaint) by police officers on many occasions for doing nothing more than sitting and talking. He has a skateboard and you know how that goes--they're all bad apples in the eyes of the police. Then its up to kid to prove he did nothing wrong.

There's racial profiling, age profile, etc. It exists. This will simply be another "tool" to facilitate that. Being out past a certain time by no means implies you "intend mischief." Laws like this have been proven time and again to target low income and minority kids. Read the page I sent. What kind of educational campaign would be planned for parents and kids, and police? Do you just put in the law in place, throw out the net and see who we catch?

This is a bad, bad idea.

Are you in law enforcement by any chance? Your comments (here and elsewhere on Patch) Indicate an uncommon level of knowledge about law enforcement and policing issues. I have read that general law enforcement is split on the issue of teen curfews.

What does a curfew teach our teens?

1. It teach's them to drive and not walk. (example) Will an officer sitting at an intersection harass the 17 year old sitting at the light in his or her car or the 17 year old trying to cross the street after 11:00.
2. It teach's them all about age discrimination and what it feels like to be persecuted.
3. It teach's them that if they happen to be "out", to stay in the shadows and be a little sneaky.
4. It teach's them that if allowed, Government will try to control every aspect of their lives.
5. It teach's them that for some reason, there age group is not to be trusted. Of course we "ALL KNOW" how magically after turning 18 people become "angels".

Thanks for clarifying, Bill. Hans Reimer is against this. Not sure about the others. He also told me no action expected until Sept. As far as age discrimination, absolutely. My kids have friends who are a year or two older or younger. Some would be caught by the curfew and others would be OK. So friendships will also be affected. Council member Reimer posted an editorial about the City of Baltimore's experiences and advice for Montgomery County.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-curfew-20110725,0,7632132.story

Valerie Ervin replied to me with a non-committal answer:

Dear Mr. Redmond:
Thank you for your correspondence expressing your views on Expedited Bill 25-11, Offenses – Curfew – Established, which was proposed by the County Executive. I have shared your correspondence with my Council colleagues, and I am pleased to respond on their behalf.

The Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Bill 25-11 on July 26. A Public Safety Committee worksession is tentatively scheduled for September 15. My colleagues and I will keep your comments in mind as we deliberate on this bill.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with me. Your views are important and will help me in my deliberations on matters that affect the residents of Montgomery County. I know that by working together, we will continue to achieve great things.

Sincerely,
Valerie Ervin
Council President

I cannot believe I'm agreeing with Parsons, but yes this is a teaching moment. When I have students in my classroom complaining they are cold/hot, I tell them to start a petition, have parents call, become an activist. Whining will get you nowhere fast. However, organizing petitions, communicating in an intellectual manner is what will make the difference. This is an opportunity for kids to see a democaratic system that works!

Well said Steve. It is indeed a wonderful teaching moment. I might add that there are other issues currently addressing Montgomery / Rockville / Maryland that seem to require petitions and other forms of activism.
Bottom line is that it's always good to have the voice of the people heard and counted rather than a handful of agenda driven legislators making policy without regard of the will of the majority of the people.

To Heather - you're correct, unsupervised teens will sneak around. Good kids will need to be accompanied by a parent when they attend fun events like the Harry Potter premier. When HP7.2 premiered, my 15 and 17 year olds attended with their 19 year old sister. I had to work the next day and this old dog was useless the next day the last time I tried to run with the pups. If I have to go to the next big premier with my (then 16 year old), either I'll have to say no or take the next day off. If it won't hurt her school performance (HP7.2 premiered in the summer. Is there a summer exception? Probably not, that is when even more mischief can occur), I will be very disappointed if I have to say no to some harmless fun with friends.

Nancy Floreen is playing her cards close to the vest:

Teens Protest Proposed Curfew

teen doing t.v. interviewYoung people (and quite a few older people) came out in force to express their opposition to a bill to establish a youth curfew in Montgomery County. The bill, introduced by the County Executive and supported by the Police Department, is intended to address issues relating to increased gang activity, violence and crime involving minors. It would impose a curfew of midnight on weekends and 11:00 p.m. on weekdays for people under the age of 18.

There's a lot to think about in regard to this bill, and I expect we will have detailed discussions about it before taking any action. Regardless of whether this bill passes or how it may change during our deliberations, I must commend our youth for their civic engagement. Several teens spoke extremely eloquently at the public hearing, while dozens more supported them from the gallery. A few wrote us e-mails and thousands expressed their views via Facebook. To our civically active teens, I say: keep up the good work!

Our Public Safety Committee will take up the issue on September 15, and the full Council will consider it after that, so there is still plenty of time to let us know what you think.

Heather:
Your comment:
"Or it teaches them to simply obey the law and to be in at the appriate time. Why are you making it into an issue of being sneaky? As a parent wouldn't you expect them in by curfew? Do you allow them to speed? Lie? Steal? If not then why would you allow them to break a curfew law?"

You missed the point. The point is the law is not needed, we already have laws on the books to deal with this issue. You mention an appropriate time, that can mean different times for different people.....one size does NOT fit all.
As a parent the time my children should be home is determined by me and NOT the Government. Do we allow people to lie, to speed, to steal......we have laws saying they should not do these things............but guess what......they happen anyway and always will regardless of a curfew or not.
A curfew is not needed and is discriminatory....

How is the curfew being discriminatory if all teens county wide need to be in? If it were singling out a race or a sex it may be discriminating but it's not. Earlier this summer police came to the tennis courts near my home to pick up several drunk teens, one was throwing up. Had there been a curfew they may not have found beer, been out drinking, and gotten sick out in a public place. It's also a parenting issue but a curfew may have helped.

At 18 you can vote, at 17 years 11 months you cannot. Does that makes sense? At 21 years one can buy beer but at 20 years 11 months one cannot. With **maturity** and age come more rights afforded to us. Sometimes that extra month makes no difference but we still need to deal with it and observe the law.

Pippa:
Your comment:
Jeff -
FYI - "teaches" not "teach's"

Thankes'.....another product of a fine MCPS edgication!!!

Heather:
Your comment:
"MCPS happen to be one of the top public school systems in the nation, but I'm sure you know that. Have you seen "Waiting for Superman", the general public school system in this country is rather pathetic & decrepit. It's also rather rude to point out the typos people make unless you are 100% typo free at all times."

Heather,
Pippa was pointing out "MY" typo's, I was NOT the rude one! As for MCPS....well let's just say that I know all about it :)

Jeff, I'm sorry. I thought I was responding to Pippa. I wasn't calling you rude, it was meant for anyone pointing our another person's typos. Sometimes we don't have time to spellcheck or proofread, but that doesn't mean we don't know proper grammar & spelling rules.

I support the curfew. Sorry but no teens or child under 18 needs to be out past 11:00pm. PERIOD.