On September 22, 2013, 16-year-old Shaina Harris received permission from her mother, Linda Richardson, to go to Burger King. His time at Burger King was past 10 p.m., which violates his city's curfew. Shaina was summoned for her violation and was taken to court. Such innocent behavior as going for a milkshake with your mother's permission should not be frowned upon. Nor should it result in a punishment like the one Shaina received. His mother, Mrs Richardson, said: "It's my right as a parent to tell my child when he needs to be home, it's not the government's right." (Cowen, 2013). Mrs. Richardson indeed has the right, as the mother of her daughter, to scold her and give her approval to leave the house. It is not the government's position to empower young teenagers. Today, law enforcement agencies are criminalizing innocent activities due to the curfew imposed in their region. As with Shaina, she had a destination in mind. Many young teenagers go out after 10pm. they are just trying to get home or have a place of interest in mind. There should not be an automatic negative assumption that a teenager is out of the house after 10pm. Teens shouldn't have labels on them when they haven't caused any problems. Curfew laws create these labels on young teenagers and repress innocent ones. Curfew laws discriminate against young teenagers who have done nothing wrong and pose no threat to the community. Any teenager like me can do one of many innocent activities and end up in a lot of trouble because of the curfew. Innocent teenagers will no longer be innocent because they were accosted by police officers while walking home with friends. So being forced to go home in a police car can create something negative… middle of paper… a safer, happier, more thriving community. Works Cited Blackford, L. (1997, June 16). Retrieved June 6, 2014, from Village Life: http://www.villagelife.org/news/archives/6-16-97_teenscurfew.htmlCowen, R. (2013, March 8). ACLU sues Wanaque over youth curfew. The record.Enfinger, E. (1993). 8 reasons to oppose a state curfew law for teens. Orlando Sentinel .McClatchy. (2013). Avalon Curfew/It's Not the Answer. Tribune Business News .Schukat, A. (2006, Winter). A (very) brief history of youth rights. Retrieved June 5, 2014, from SIRS: http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S678346-0-6584&artno=0000242096&type=ARTWagner, J.F. (2013, September 12). Retrieved June 6, 2014, from The Baltimore Sun: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-09-12/news/bs-md-ci-baltimore-curfew-questioned-20130911_1_curfew-police-union-police-commissioner - antonio-w