The Hindu : Night curfew for teens?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 02, 2003

International

International

Night curfew for teens?

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW: Teenagers may be banned off the streets of Moscow during the night, if lawmakers have their way. The Moscow City Council has approved a law in first reading this week that would impose a night-to-morning curfew on minors. Under the law, unchaperoned children under 14 years old must be off the streets and public places between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Offenders' parents will be fined the equivalent of $10 to $16. Owners of restaurants and dancing halls who allow in teens after 10 p.m. will be fined $100 to $160. Advocates of the law said the curfew was needed to curb the rise in juvenile crime, prostitution and drug abuse. The number of child alcoholics in Russia has doubled in the past decade of chaotic pro-market reforms, while drug addiction among children has increased by a factor of 17.5. Critics said the law would encourage bribe-taking among police and would be ineffective if enforced only within city bounds. The Moscow legislators would also have to persuade Parliament to amend national legislation to allow the impost of a curfew for children.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International