The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
I was driving home from work several weeks back when I took a brief detour down Bellevue Avenue. Grinning children frolicked in Rotary Park, enjoying what turned out to be one the last days before snowfall. Across the street a friendly man walked two very large but equally friendly dogs. It was a picturesque autumn day. Then, without warning, I felt like I was transported into the rough part of Winnipeg. The smooth cement corridor beneath the Fourth Avenue bridge, I observed, had become a cesspool of spray-painted graffiti. If that weren't enough, my otherwise uneventful trek down Channing Drive moments later revealed a vandalized Halloween display. It wasn't totally trashed, but the damage did represent a complete lack of respect for someone else's hard work. I'm no detective, but I'd be positively astounded if these crimes weren't committed a) at night and b) by individuals under the age of 18. No doubt the police would agree. My double whammy of a drive got me thinking about whether it's time Flin Flon had a curfew for minors. In the summer of 2005, amid a spat of serious crimes, then-mayor Dennis Ballard was asked about the possibility of such a statute. "We won't rule out anything that works," he said, adding, however, that he has doubts about a curfew's effectiveness. While the option was left on the table, mayor and council never saw fit to use it. The new council should reexamine the issue, as our community would be well served by a curfew. It's a tool to consider not only during periods of higher crime, but also to potentially stop the next act of lawlessness from occurring. Of course some wonder whether a curfew would do anything. Teenagers out at 2 a.m. spray painting obscenities or destroying property aren't respecting the law in the first place, so why would they abide by a curfew? It's inevitable that many young culprits would laugh at it. However, no longer would police and residents have to guess whether kids out late are up to no good. Their mere presence on our streets would be a violation subject to immediate intervention, no questions asked. There may also be concerns that a curfew is overkill, that to punish the entire barrel over a few bad apples is unfair. But is a curfew really a punishment? Think about it. What good reasons exist for a 14- or 15-year-old to be outside late at night? Sure, there may be some who are walking home from babysitting or in search of fresh air before bed (teens are notorious night owls). A curfew would cause inconvenience to the few but would benefit all. Every by-law is a hassle for somebody. You just have to live with it. Talk of a curfew inevitably brings up the conviction that this is a parental responsibility. In a perfect world, yes, but in our community and elsewhere, there are parents who don't seem to care whether their sons and daughters are out at all hours. If they won't enforce a reasonable curfew, somebody else must. It's worth noting that a curfew would also protect our youth from bad things that can happen at night. Who knows what kind of characters are roaming around at 3 a.m.? Our neighbours in The Pas and Thompson have already implemented youth curfews. Although it's by no means foolproof, it is a good idea. Hopefully Flin Flon will follow suit. Local Angle runs Fridays.
