Until what time can your children go out in the evening? In this town, the question no longer arises: parents who leave their teenagers outside at night risk a fine.
It’s a debate that often comes up in the world of parenting: to what extent should we give children autonomy and independence? Among education experts and parents themselves, no one seems to agree on the happy medium between laxity and overprotection. At what age can a child go to school alone or go to the cinema with friends? Until what time can teenagers be allowed to stay outside? Everyone will argue that it depends on surrounding factors, such as place of residence for example, or the more or less responsible personality of the teenager in question.
But in a small French town, a mayor made this decision in place of parents: minors under the age of 15 are no longer allowed to go out after 10 p.m. without being accompanied by a legal representative. A curfew which aims to ensure their safety, of course, but also and above all “the safety of people and property” and maintain the “good order” and the “public tranquility”. Indeed, the municipality explains having recorded an upsurge nighttime incivility, such as theft, vehicle damage or stone throwing, and wanting to put an end to it by establishing sanctions for “neglectful parents.
Marie Costa, the mayor of Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda (a small town of 3,500 inhabitants located in the Pyrénées-Orientales), therefore signed a municipal decree to implement this curfew, prohibiting minors under the age of 15 from “travel, park or gather on all public roads. This applies between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the next three months, until May 31, 2026.
In the event of non-compliance, it is the parents who will have to pay the costs: a fixed fine of 135 euros, which will be “doubled in the event of a recurrence”is intended for “parents of teenagers visibly left to their own devices”. From the local newspaper Made in Perpignanthe mayor explained that this measure follows public damage supposedly committed by “kids” seen on the city’s video surveillance cameras: “I don’t think there are any young delinquents. I think there are parents who are incapable and resigned. Children are like reeds, if you put a stake in them, they grow well.”
It is difficult to know precisely what the residents concerned think about it, since comments were restricted following the publication of the decree on Facebook. But we of course imagine that this curfew will be the subject of a lively debate, especially at the time of the municipal elections, in which Marie Costa is running for a new mandate. For its part, the Human Rights League does not view this decision favorably, considering this curfew “abusive” because it contravenes the “royal rights such as the right to travel”. The association has also announced that it will file an action for annulment, accompanied by an interim suspension. This is an emergency procedure asking a judge to suspend the execution of an administrative decision whose legality is contested.
