Time is right for parents, not curfew

Parents used to hear the nagging question every night on their fuzzy black-and-white TV:

"It's 11 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?"

In a single generation, the question has been turned on its head:

"It's 12 o'clock, children. Do you know where your parents are?"

That appears to be the message being sent by the Hilton Head Plantation Property Owners Association, which has endorsed a new midnight curfew for teens within its private gates. The move comes after years of frustration over vandalism -- and worse -- carried out by young people who should be at home under parental supervision.

I hope it works, especially since I live there and don't want to become a crime statistic.

But I'm not so sure the people making the new rules remember what it was like to rear teenagers. A key element of sneaking out at night is that you don't ask permission.

Could they possibly think our homes are filled with conversations like this:

"Gee, Dad, can't we please, please, please sneak out? I know it's after midnight, but it's been ages since we were able to pull off a real break-in and steal some liquor and cash."

"Well, OK, son. Just this once, if you promise not to get caught. But don't you think Mom should fix some black coffee first, so you kids can sober up?"

If it's true that parents are rolling over while their kids go criminal, the plantation should consider dropping the curfew program and tweaking its deer-culling program. Instead of baiting their flower-eating deer into a moonlit clearing at night, where they can be officially "culled," they could lure kids with kegs of beer and toss a big shrimp net over them.

The kids might protest with "Save the Hilton Head Beer" bumper stickers, but I bet the bait-and-switch tactic would get their attention.

Most Lowcountry neighborhoods already have natural deterrents for little snots running around at night -- copperheads, a few rattlesnakes, alligators, sand spurs, fire ants, wetlands, chiggers, mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. Many are surrounded by fences and guard gates. They're crawling with security forces, cameras, home security alarms, motion lights and snarling family dogs.

But better than all that, we have trial lawyers. Surely they can discover some liability that asleep-at-the-switch parents may be overlooking.

Bear in mind that our state legislature and state Supreme Court are now assigning much broader liability to adults who serve alcohol to kids between the ages of 18 and 20. Curfew is a different subject, with its own legal ins-and-outs. I don't know if this new private curfew will pass the bar or not, but the message is clear as a high-definition television. Society wants to zap the old late-night TV question and switch to a strong statement:

"It's midnight. You must know -- or reasonably should know -- where your children are. You do not have the right to remain silent."