Lock up the young, this is Thailand

The government appears to have taken the easy option in disciplining the country's wayward youth by slapping a 10pm curfew on those under 18 years old. It is an approach that reflects the mood of many parents and teachers who feel powerless in dealing with teenage children whose actions and attitudes can be difficult to understand and control. But legal controls are hardly the best method of preventing our teenage children from visiting nightspots, engaging in illegal night motorcycle races or, in some serious cases, committing violent crimes.

The regulation, no matter how well-intended, flies in the face of the basic principle of the constitution. This principle guarantees the rights and the freedom of movement of all Thais, regardless of their age. This law will also create more problems for law enforcement authorities, who already have more than enough, and much more important things, to do.

It is generally accepted that Thailand has too many laws that are hardly ever enforced. History should teach us that this law, which comes under the Child Protection Act, will be treated with the same low regard as the requirement for motorcyclists to wear crash helmets.

The idea of a curfew was no doubt inspired by scenes of underaged children at nightspots.

But this government has a tendency to too readily use state controls to deal with problems which might more acceptably be managed by subtle means. A curfew on the movement of the young is dictatorial and shows that those who proposed it are lacking in all understanding of the complexity of the problems involving our youth.

This curfew is a case of the government taking the completely wrong approach. In trying to protect the young from vice, it has made the young suffer for its own abject failure to enforce the law against the operators of places open to the underaged and those who sell them drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

Some parents might entertain the idea that this meddling by the state will make their lives easier, that the disciplining of their wayward children will now not be their responsibility alone. If only life were so simple. Teenagers are bundles of energy. They need the freedom to channel this energy in ways that are not harmful, and this takes close parental guidance so they can mature into responsible citizens.

Instead of imposing a curfew, which will only create a resentfulness among the young, the government should promote family togetherness and help people to be good parents. Good families produce good citizens. Many youths choose to stay out at night because there is only unrest at home. What teenager wants to spend his/her nights on the cold streets when there is warmth and someone who loves him/her at home?

-- The Bangkok Post