The Effects of Teen Curfews

The time when you institute a curfew is a transformational period in your relationship with your teenager. The curfew is one of the first big steps toward independence that you and your teenager will share together. The effects that a curfew will have can vary from teen to teen, making it imperative that you know both the benefits and drawbacks of teen curfews.

  1. Responsibility

    • A curfew gives your teen a new found freedom that she never had before. What is important for your teen to understand is that with that new freedom comes the responsibility to respect the curfew. A curfew is an excellent teaching tool because it gives your teen something of great value to her with the expectation that she can meet the responsibility and build trust between you and her. As your teen practices taking on the added responsibility, she can build upon her success meeting a curfew by using the same skills in other endeavors such as schoolwork and extracurricular activities.

    Independence

    • While the increased independence your teenager will experience may sadden you, it will ultimately strengthen your relationship by allowing her to forge new and stronger relationships with her peers. Because socialization with peers is so essential for a developing healthy teenager, your teen will show you gratitude and excitement for being able to stay out later with her friends.

    Discipline

    • You're going to have to have some sort of disciplinary structure in place in case your teen fails to fully obey the rules of the curfew. While unforeseen circumstances may mitigate the need for discipline, open defiance of the curfew such as consistently coming home after the curfew will require you to come up with measures such as deducting time from the curfew. You should be aware that such measures can strain the relationship between you and your teen, so you must make sure that your solutions to disobeying the curfew are fair and just.

    Sleep

    • Even though your teen would love to stay out late especially on Friday and Saturday nights, an extended curfew can negatively affect his sleep habits. If he has important obligations early in the morning after a night in which he is permitted to stay out later than usual he may not get an adequate amount of sleep. This is a legitimate concern because it can cause him to lose focus on his schoolwork or even show up late to a part-time job.

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