Mayor Street of my hometown, Philadelphia, has just signed a new ordinance expanding the city's curfew. Since apparently parents don't carte about their kids, it is up to the mayor to be there for them:

''Young people do not belong on the street at 11 and 12 o'clock at night,'' Mayor Street said in a statement released following a bill signing ceremony. ''No good things can happen to young people at that hour.''

Part of the reasoning is to reduce youth violence, and part is for anti-truancy:

''If we keep them off the street and get them back in school, we will be a safer community,'' he said.

Now that seems like a dumb thing to say given the state of Philadelphia schools. There are schools in Philadelphia that are about as unsafe as the streets. There is no discipline, and therefore the "problem" kids are just ushered through. Maybe if parents were encouraged to take responsibility for their kids, we wouldn't need government paternalism.

Labels: Education, Philadelphia

Posted by Ryan S. on Saturday, February 10, 2007 at 11:53 AM | Permalink |