Students in Covington, Kentucky now have to follow a daytime curfew or risk being arrested. Another city in Kentucky has had a similar curfew in place for about 10 years. Daytime crime has gone down and it has helped keep kids in school. Ken Kippenbrock is the driving force behind the new ordinance. As the Director of Pupil Personnel for the school district, he sees the problems caused by truancy.
“Educators know they can’t teach students who are not in school. Police know that students who are truant may end up committing crimes. And those students who drop out of school almost always spent time skipping class,” Kippenbrock said. “It will be a game-changer for the community in terms of keeping kids off the streets during the day, and in school on the road to graduation during the school year.” Students could skip school with no real consequences before this law was enacted.
Every city should have some sort of curfew like this. I see kids all the time walking down the street, hanging out in the park, goofing off in stores and I wonder why they aren’t in school. If they don’t go to school, why aren’t they working? Sure, there are circumstances we don’t always know about. However, a law like this may help cut down on troublemakers and keep kids out of trouble.
Do you think a law like this should be enacted in your town? Why or why not?
