By Rebecca Holcomb
Round Table Editor
On Nov. 28, the burgess and commissioners of Middletown held a meeting to vote on a curfew. The vote was unanimous and there will now be a new curfew in Middletown that will not permit minors to be on the streets from 12:01 am to 5 am.
The idea of a curfew in Middletown was brought up six months ago when some small crimes committed by minors were brought to the attention of the burgess and commissioners.
“There was one case where there were a few juveniles and an adult going around and flipping the handles of car doors and then if they were open they were taking things. They were even being so bold as going inside of houses through garage doors or screen doors that were left open,” said John Miller, Burgess of Middletown. “And so as a result of those things, people began to express some concern about kids walking around at night, most of them in the middle of the night.”
Some students think that a curfew should be a parent’s preference, not the town governments.
“If we are doing something bad we will get in trouble for it, so there’s no reason to penalize everyone,” said Allie Montgomery, a Middletown High School senior.
If a minor is caught out during the curfew the town deputy will then take them into custody and call their parents.
“If there is a call to a deputy, now that people know there is a curfew, that there were some people wondering the streets between 12 and 5, now the deputy has this other tool, so to speak, and then he can actually take them into custody and return them home,” said Miller.
There is a fine of $25 to the parents if they were unaware of their child’s activity. But if it is apparent that the parent was aware of their child’s goings-on then there is a greater fine.
There are many conflicting opinions about the curfew between students and adults in the Middletown area.
Some students at MHS, like Montgomery, think the new curfew is “kind of silly and unnecessary.”
“If kids want to go commit crimes, they will. Curfews also take law-abiding citizens off the streets. With fewer people out, crime rates have actually increased in some places with curfews because there are fewer witnesses,” said Matt Gabb, a MHS senior.
Even though the curfew is still being debated, it is going to begin being enforced 20 days after the ordinance was passed, on Dec. 18, so the Middletown kids will have to learn to respect the new curfew and get home before midnight.
