Curfew

The relevant State Duma committee approved amendments to the law, which provide, in particular, for restricting the freedom of movement of children at night. This is also called a “curfew for children.” The amendments have not yet been finalized. They provide that each subject of the Federation will independently set the beginning and end of the curfew, despite the fact that the night, according to the Labor Code, begins at 10 pm and ends at 6 am.

Naturally, a discussion began among the concerned part of the population. The doubts are clear: any restriction of freedom is frightening, any ban is, as a rule, a bad means to achieve a goal, and the phrase “curfew” in peacetime generally sounds creepy. But this fear is, so to speak, linguistic. Almost unaccountable. People feel that something is wrong, but they are not clearly aware of what it is. But I honestly admitted in my blog that this is a rare case when I am ready to support the prohibitive and restrictive measures of our bosses.

A lot of people immediately wrote to me, expressing themselves in the spirit that we ourselves will determine when our children can go out and what to do, and in general - there is no need to limit individual freedom. Theoretically true, but practically even dangerous. And here's why. The law concerns children under 14 years of age. And these individuals are initially deprived of their rights. They don't even have a passport! They do not have the right to vote. However, they do not bear criminal liability. They are still limited in many ways. But we are not indignant about why, say, a 12-year-old boy does not have adult documents and why he cannot vote in elections. However, we demand that he be given the opportunity to roam the streets after midnight.

And here I immediately have a question for parents who defend the right of children to decide for themselves what time and what to do. Tell me: what kind of things can your child do in the middle of the night? Well, what are they? Sorry for the banality, but at night a normal person should sleep. Children can study, go to sports sections or clubs, go to the movies or just visit. However, night is the part of the day when no one studies, does not play sports, does not attend clubs, and it is inconvenient for young creatures to stay at a party so late.

There are, of course, all sorts of circumstances. Not every concert ends early, and football sometimes stays late too. But these are special cases that can be stipulated in the law and for which, by the way, there is a gap left in it. And in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where there really is a lot of late (but decent) entertainment, it is not necessary to set a curfew at 22:00. In addition, the law does not prohibit children from being on the street at this time in principle. With mom, dad, an adult relative or just an adult you know - for God’s sake. But a child who wanders down the street alone at night is either a target or himself a source of danger. There are enough stories in crime reports about teenage gangs and crimes for which it is impossible to punish due to childhood.

I understand that malicious banditry cannot be eradicated by a curfew. But a lot of guys get into such stories by accident, out of stupidity, because they were staggering from idleness, not knowing what to do with themselves. And this ban is, of course, an extra argument for parents who are afraid to let their children go out late. One parental “no” may not be enough, but the child will most often be afraid of the law so as not to look for troubles guaranteed by this law on his own ass.

I also foresee all the possible difficulties that accompany compliance with laws in our country. And with bribes, and with optional performance. But you can also not accept anything at all - since it is initially meaningless. In general, I'm for it.

But along the way, I would like to draw attention to this thing. When they talk about these innovations, for some reason the conversation comes down to the “curfew” - apparently, again because of the sonority. But this law is only part of a certain “concept of state policy in the field of spiritual and moral education of children and the protection of their morality.” There are a lot of interesting things in it, let's say. Among the ideas is a ban on celebrating so-called borrowed holidays, which include the harmless Valentine's Day and the absolutely harmless Halloween. And it is clear that the danger of these holidays is not that teenagers will give each other “Valentines” and make big-eyed pumpkins, but that it is “borrowed,” that is, we are talking about the corrupting influence of the West. Which is also distributed via the Internet. And children’s access to the Internet should also be limited, although it is unclear by what criteria and who will be able to control this, even if parents are unlikely to be able to do this. And, of course, we are talking about compiling lists of banned books, unreliable films - even toys that “promote violence.” It is this part of the concept - meaningless, impracticable, but opening up limitless punitive possibilities - that should be hit with a critical salvo. And a children’s “curfew” in terms of restricting rights and freedoms is quite harmless.